Ice (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back -- if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her -- until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

About the Author

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of Ice, as well as Into the Wild, an Andre Norton Award Finalist for Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy, and its sequel, Out of the Wild.  She has been writing fantasy stories since she was ten years old and holds an English degree from Princeton University.  Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband and children, for whom she would happily journey east of the sun and west of the moon.  For more information, visit her at sarahbethdurst.com.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141698643X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416986430
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #142,398 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, engrossing tale of impossible love and sacrifice, October 3, 2009

By	K. Pickett "Book Butterfly" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Make sure to break out your winter coat because you are in for one epic Arctic adventure! Sarah Beth Durst has woven a magical narrative that will sweep you away across frozen lands, complete with ice castles, blistering winds, enchanting creatures and one courageous young woman! ICE was a beautiful, engrossing tale of impossible love and sacrifice that drew me in right from the very first page.

Cassie, the eighteen year old daughter of an arctic research scientist, had long since forgotten the fairy tales told to her as a child. According to the stories spun by her grandmother, Cassie's mother was imprisoned by the trolls after making a heartbreaking deal with the polar bear king. As she grew up, Cassie begun to realize that this was a nice way of saying her mother had passed away. But when Cassie seeks out a polar bear and he does the impossible by speaking to her, it seems as if some fairy tales are grounded in reality. She strikes a bargain with him and in that moment, her life irrevocably changes forever.

Sarah Beth Durst has taken the classic tale of East of the Sun, West of the Moon and given it her own modern twist. But you don't need to be familiar with the original fairy tale to truly appreciate this novel. Durst has truly made this story her own. I loved her descriptive way of storytelling - when I was reading ICE, I could hear the roar of the North Wind blowing in my ears and feel the snow on my face, blinding me from the glare and freezing my eyelashes. I was right there alongside Cassie - heart pounding with every step of the journey ahead of me.

In an interview on Simon & Schuster's website, Sarah Beth Durst said-

"I love polar bears. I love fairy tales. And I love stories about girls who kick butt. But most of all, I wrote ICE as a love letter to my husband. It's about true love, real love, the kind where you face the world as a united team, the kind where you'd go east of the sun and west of the moon for your love."

I really feel like I can't sum up ICE any better than this quote does! If you are a fan of adventure and love stories with fairy tale elements, then you will not be disappointed with ICE. Cassie was a fierce heroine- I truly admired her. She truly sacrificed everything she had for Bear - it makes you wonder, just how far would you go for love?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SqueakyBooks.com Review Of ICE, Fantastic Read!, October 4, 2009

By	Enna Isilee "www.squeakybooks.com" - See all my reviews

As you may know, this is the latest book by the author of Into The Wild, and this one is also based on a fairy tale.

It's based on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and when my mother saw me reading this she said(justifiably), "Is that ANOTHER book based on east of west moon sun?" And I am here to tell you: no it is not.

I haven't read EAST but I have read SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW. And I'm telling you, even if you have read those, this book will keep you on your toes! Durst brings in such an interesting mix of fairy tale, folklore, culture, and... I don't want to say religion, because that's not quite what it is, but if you read it you'll understand.

This book is based in modern times, up in Alaska and the arctic. Cassie lives with her father and their team at a research station in the middle of the ice-desert. Cassie's grandmother often told Cassie the story of how her mother was promised to the Polar bear king by her father the North Wind, but then she fell in love with a human man and the Polar Bear King(love him!) agreed to protect her from the North Wind's wrath, on the condition that their first-born daughter be his wife. But North Wind found her anyway blew her to the edge of the earth to be with the trolls.

Now it's Cassie's 18th birthday, and the Polar Bear King has come for her.

Just a quick squeak: it's for a slightly older audience than Into the Wild (I'm gonna say... 14+, due to mild swearing, and married people doing what married people do).

Definitely purchase this. It's worth any cost. :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A breathtaking, beautiful fairy tale retelling, November 2, 2009

By	The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Cassie Dasent has always lived in the remote Arctic research station where her father is a scientist studying the movement of polar bears. She loves the cold and ice and never wants to leave, but on her eighteenth birthday, her father and grandmother try to make her do just that. But before they can whisk her off to Alaska, a gigantic speaking polar bear approaches her, luring her away toward the North Pole with tales of fairy tales and a mother who really isn't dead. Cassie is hesitant, but soon she finds herself on an amazing adventure around the top of the world, risking everything for those that she loves.

Sarah Beth Durst's novel Ice is one of the most engaging, imaginative retellings of the old fairy tale East of Sun, West of the Moon. Durst mixes breathtaking magic and wonders with modern day technology and conveniences to craft an unexpected, entertaining, and engrossing tale of love, friendship, and sacrifice that is both adventurous and romantic. Cassie is a daring, obstinate character who is hesitant at first when it comes to love, but when her true love is wrenched away from her, she confronts the obstacles facing her head on, and tirelessly works to get him back, learning the true meaning of love, both familial and romantic, in the process. Ice is as much a fairy tale as it is Cassie's coming-of-age as she balances a myth-like romance with modern day values and ideas.

Durst also employs the use of spectacular and beautiful imagery to describe the brutality and the majestic beauty of the Arctic, and even the boreal forests south of the land of ice. Her words capture the danger, the excitement, and the exhilaration of adventure and true love, making for a spectacular, unusual read you will never want to finish. I simply adored this book, and cannot wait for Durst's next one.