Breadcrumbs

Content Ratings

No Romance

The relationship between Hazel and Jack is a profound childhood friendship that exists just at the edge of something more; the emotional depth of that connection—and its threatened loss—is the novel's heart; no romantic content.

Moderate Themes

The novel is a sustained meditation on the grief of losing a friendship, the terror of growing apart from someone one loves, the pain of being different and not quite fitting, and the courage required to follow someone into the dark to bring them back.

No Violence

The dangers of the Snow Queen's forest are fairy tale in register—transformative rather than violent; a character becomes cold and distant as a form of enchantment.

Synopsis

When Hazel's best friend Jack suddenly changes—becoming cold and pulling away—and then disappears into the snowy woods, Hazel follows him into a fairy tale world drawn from Andersen's Snow Queen, determined to bring him back even as the magic of the forest tries to seduce her into staying. A lyrical, emotionally precise novel about childhood friendship, loss, and growing up. One of the most quietly beautiful middle-grade novels of recent decades.