Snow Summer

August 29, 2016
Even after her adoptive sister is frozen by an ice spirit in the form of a polar bear during a winter without end, high schooler Wyn March is reluctant to believe that she is the only one who can save her best friend, as well as restore the Earth’s seasons. Although Wyn knows she is different from others in her British village of Pateley, she finds it difficult to fathom that she is the reincarnation of Mugasa, one of a pair of dragons charged with keeping the Earth in balance. With snowstorms blanketing the land even in the height of summer, Wyn unlocks her powers—communicating with trees, animals, and wind—through the help of Tawhir, a wind spirit, and Thwaite, a Green Man archetype both fierce and nurturing. Debut author Peel coats his story in a dense mythology that can be challenging to follow as Wyn faces off against ominous spirits wishing to take over the world in its chaotic state, but lush imagery and a topsy-turvy plot should keep readers invested. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from July 15, 2016
In a world that's always winter, a young girl discovers what she really is.Wyn, a prickly, unsociable girl, is plagued by odd abilities that she keeps secret--fire doesn't burn her, cold doesn't affect her, and her eyesight is extraordinary. Her only friend is Kate, daughter of the minister and his wife, who have brought Wyn into their family after the death of Mrs. March, Wyn's beloved first foster mother. But things are out of balance in the all-white English countryside where Wyn lives. It's nearly the last day of summer, and the landscape is still covered in ice and snow. Then Tawhir, a mysterious boy, appears, and Wyn is almost overpoweringly attracted to him even as she feels a deep unease. Gradually, unwillingly, Wyn uncovers both what is causing the odd weather and her long-ago connection with Tawhir. Peel writes with a deeply felt sense of setting and with just the right touch of restraint to allow his characters to reveal themselves fully. Nature spirits and dragons are introduced but without hoopla and as a seamless and essential part of the entirely logical plot. Thoroughly realized characters, a story that combines high fantasy with the pagan world of nature spirits, settings that amplify and uphold the natural-world underpinnings of the plot, and plenty of tension characterize this refreshing read. A must. (Fantasy. 12-14)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016

Gr 6-8-A contemporary, nature-based fantasy. Teenage Wyn March lives with her foster family in the Yorkshire Dales of England. The world has suffered years of increasingly cold weather, culminating in a snow-covered summer. Mystical characters start appearing in the protagonist's town of Pateley Bridge, urging her to accept her true nature and to use her great powers to end the winter. At first, she resists her magical gifts, and her journey to acceptance forms the heart of the novel. The author's skills as a garden designer and beekeeper are evident in the lovingly created natural and supernatural settings, which are full of the plants and animals of northern England. The protagonist is a prickly and sometimes unsympathetic character, and it's left to appealing secondary characters like her kindly foster father and sister to provide some human warmth and emotion. Wyn's alter ego and some minor characters use the names of places or gods from various cultures, such as Mugasa of the Bambuti of the Congo Basin; Uluru, which is sacred to the indigenous Anangu of Australia; and Denali, which is central to the creation story of the Koyukon Athabascans of Alaska. These instances of cultural appropriation are problematic elements in an otherwise thoughtful fantasy. The book concludes with the timely allegorical message that climate upheaval comes from nature spirits' anger at humans' treatment of the earth. VERDICT Consider for collections where environmental fantasies are popular.-Beth Wright Redford, Richmond Elementary School Library, VT

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2016
Grades 6-9 Orphan Wyn currently lives with a kindly pastor and his family in a small English village, but she's acutely aware of not fitting in. Climate change has created a winter without end, which means that Wyn needs to hide the fact that she is never cold, as well as try to ignore her untested telekinetic powers and strange memories of things that should be impossible, like flying. When otherworldly creatures appear, sparking Wyn's hidden memories, she realizes her true identity and her responsibility to end winter and save the world. Peel blends current realities like climate change with a mystical natural world, in which nature's forces are strong enough to fight human destruction. Readers' initial confusion over the various magical creatures should settle fairly quickly, while Peel's richly detailed descriptions of the landscapes and the creatures that rise from them create a magic of their own. Though clearly British in origin, the concerns are global. It may not be subtle, but Peel's debut has the satisfyingly predictable appeal of a fairy tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)