The Girl from Shadow Springs

December 15, 2020
A girl battles dangers both natural and supernatural to save her sister. Jorie's a scavenger, looting corpses of unwise treasure hunters who die on the deadly Ice Flats. A dangerous Rover shows up looking for a possession on the latest body--and when it isn't there, he takes Jorie's sister, Brenna, instead. To retrieve Brenna, Jorie must bring what the Rover's after to Nocna Mora, a former mining colony now rumored to host outlaws and monsters. Accompanying Jorie (whether she likes it or not) is Cody, a privileged, University-raised Southerner who came north with his now-missing uncle on a quest to find a long-lost, mythical city. Academic, dreamy Cody has romanticized notions of the North and its magical legends while practical Jorie tries to be as cold and relentless as the everlasting winter where she lives. The well-crafted settings use a variety of frozen landscapes, providing dangers and keeping the story grounded while giving it a strong sense of forward motion and progress. Jorie's first-person voice is distinctive without being distracting and well utilized in showing her emotional arc. The physical story--pitting the duo against threats from nature, animals, and humans as they uncover the truths behind the legends--is straightforward (and a tad predictable) but has enough varied beats to keep reader interest up to a stand-alone-worthy conclusion. The characters default to White. Inventive worldbuilding and a distinctive protagonist make for a solid debut. (Fantasy. 12-18)

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January 4, 2021
Blood Red Road meets “The Snow Queen” in an icy frontier fantasy that only sometimes rises above well-used tropes. Sixteen-year-old Jorie Harrow scavenges dead men outside the gold rush town of Shadow Springs, where spring hasn’t come for a generation. But her latest find—a bullet-riddled Southern naturalist—brings trouble to her doorstep when white-haired outlaw Harden Reeves kidnaps Jorie’s younger sister to trade for a map to a lost city’s storied treasure, one he’s convinced Jorie’s hiding. Alongside the dead naturalist’s nephew Cody Colburn, Jorie ventures into the haunted Ice Flats to save her sister, a quest that leads them into the North’s most sinister folktale—and an impossible showdown. Lushly described Arctic beauty shimmers through Jorie’s journey, but cryptic arguments, didactic speeches, and temporary crises slow its pace and break the spell. While younger Mandalorian fans should enjoy this winter-bound western, seasoned YA readers may be left unsatisfied. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rachel Ekstrom, Folio Literary.

January 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-Legends of a vengeful Ice-Witch, larger-than-life wolves, and an underground city formed entirely of gold surround the Flats, the vast frozen tundra near Shadow Springs, where 17-year-old Jorie and her younger sister Brenna live alone, barely surviving in the brutal, endless winter. Jorie's stoic disbelief in the legends does not stop her from stripping the frozen corpses of treasure hunters for valuables to support their meager existence. However, when she steals from the wrong person, her sister is kidnapped and Jorie must brave the Flats, and its all-too-real stories, in order to save her. Accompanied by a stranger named Cody, who seeks the truth about his uncle's murder, Jorie embarks on a grim journey filled with hunger, rival bandit groups, and monsters of legend. This is a dark survival story, with a smattering of fantasy creatures and world-building that is never fully developed. Driven by the single-minded goal of reaching her sister, Jorie is a one-note narrator, and her growing friendship with Cody takes a backseat to detailed discussions of rations, fire building, and frostbitten extremities. All major characters are described as pale, implied to be white, and the setting is a fantasy version of an Arctic frontier. VERDICT An additional purchase for collections where survival stories circulate well.-Molly Saunders, Manatee County P.L., Bradenton, FL

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