Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing well and preparing for the upcoming festive season. Here in our household, well, next door specifically, the tree is being prepared and presents are being wrapped. Christmas is surely on its way to our little corner of the world. I’ll leave you with that image and encourage you to press the button below to find out about the winter tales below…
This first title is actually an award-winner. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) takes the reader into a magical winter story. It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smugglers’ inn is always quiet during this season, and Milo, the innkeeper’s adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. And keeps ringing, bringing in customers. Soon the inn is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House – and themselves. Filled with hidden clues and secret maps, old ghost stories and smugglers, this magical mystery read will definitely keep you captivated!! The winter landscape and the descriptions of the old house and its old inhabitants will either give you chills or keep you awake. A great read for those who enjoy an old-fashioned puzzle-solving read!!
This next read is one of my all-time favourite winter reads from Heather Vogel Frederick. Absolutely Truly (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014) is her first title in the Pumpkin Falls Mystery series. In this delightful read we meet twelve-year-old Truly Lovegood, who at almost six-feet tall, dislikes standing out in a crowd. Now that her family has moved to teeny-tiny Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire, Truly doesn’t stand a chance of blending in. While helping out in the family bookstore one day, Truly finds a mysterious letter inside an old copy of Charlotte’s Web and soon she and her new friends are swept up in a madcap treasure hunt around town. While chasing clues that could spell danger, Truly discovers there’s more to Pumpkin Falls than meets the eye – and that blending in can be overrated. This blockbuster of a book is one that will have you glued to the pages for a long time. You can’t help but feel like you’re a part of the crowd in Pumpkin Falls while tagging along with Truly and the gang. An amazing winter read that starts a ‘truly’ awesome series!!
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press, 2011) is an historical read set somewhere where Vikings raided. Our main character Solveig, her brother the crown prince and their older sister is trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, along with an army of restless warriors. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. A malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another. Those charged with protecting the king’s children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. This historical read kept me gripped well into the wee hours of the night. Suspense, adventure, and history combined into an amazing tale of treachery and survival. Kirby has done an awesome job in hitting the right notes in this one!!
Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll (Faber & Faber, 2013) is another historical winter tale that takes you into the late 1800’s. Winter has come to Frost Hollow Hall in 1881 and a girl is skating in the middle of a frozen lake. She’s not supposed to be here. No one is. Not since Kit Barrington drowned at Frost Hollow Hall ten years ago. But the dead don’t scare Tilly Higgins. The ice is thin. It cracks. Suddenly she’s under the water, drowning. Near death, a strange spirit appears to her, a boy so beautiful Tilly’s sure he’s an angel. But he’s a ghost. A very troubled ghost. And he desperately needs her help. I just love historic ghost stories!! The ghosts are two young children, taken too soon, in the most tragic of events. Emma Carroll created a lively character in Tilly Higgins; determined, courageous and kind. The events that follow her into Frost Hollow Hall are spooky and mysterious but in a way quite exciting and adventurous thanks to Emma’s storytelling. What really struck me was the theme of servitude in the Vicotiran era and how the class system was addressed. Despite it being a ghost tale, the simple story of a mother’s love and even the blossoms of young romance made this a debut novel a delight to read!!
Survival is a common theme that finds its way eventually into winter tales. The next two are mostly about how two spirited tweens survived against the harsh winter landscape they found themselves in.
In Dreaming the bear by Mimi Thebo (Oxford University Press, 2016) we’re taken into the snowy landscape of Yellowstone National Park in Montana. Darcy’s life was never exactly simple, but it was about to become a lot more complicated. Recovering from a distressing illness in her parents’ cabin surrounded by looming pine trees, Darcy spends most of her days alone, warming herself by the log fire. That is, until she ventures into the woods hours before a heavy snowstorm, and finds herself face-to-face with a grizzly bear. Their encounter takes a surprising turn when it flourishes into a warm and caring companionship. A beautiful story of an unusual friendship between man and beast, or in this case girl and beast!! Filled with beautiful and vivid descriptions of the countryside, this story focuses on family bonds as well as those of the bonds that us humans form with nature.
The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick (The Blue Sky Press, 2016) is a story of one boy’s determination and survival. When residents of a remote New Hampshire village gather to watch the Northern Lights, they’re expecting to see something spectacular. What happens next will change their lives and challenge their very existence. A massive solar flare knocks out the power grid and as darkness overwhelms America, cutting off all forms of electronic communications, one young man will have to summon every ounce of courage he can muster. With his hometown spiralling into chaos, Charlie Cobb sets off on a perilous journey to save his mother’s life. Stalked by wild animals and confronted by armed citizens, Charlie also encounters extraordinary warmth and generosity in the most unlikely places. This fascinating story got me intrigued about Philbrick’s stories. I enjoyed how he explained the survival strategies for this type of eventuality and also how he created the character of Charlie!! To be honest, my first thought after I completed it was that my nephew would like it, but I know now that girls enjoy these too.
Well, there you have a booklist of winter tales for your tween. If you know of any others, I’d love to hear from you!
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 