Just the right amount of suspense and peril.
Beware of trusting the ice on a frozen lake! Cold-climate kids are raised with this solemn warning, but the Yoopers around Blackbird Lake take a more practical approach to the changing seasons. Fourteen-year-old Falc isn’t from Hillson Falls, or the Upper Peninsula at all, so he doesn’t trust his instincts on the frozen lake like the locals do. A shortcut home from school across the lake lands Falc in some very cold water. But he survives the harrowing incident, although nobody is quite sure how, or even what the incident is, exactly. The ice covering the water’s surface remains intact, leading to more questions than answers. Hoping for some clarity, or at least for a bit of comfort and nostalgia, Falc treks to his Grandpa Rikkar’s place. What starts as a family ice-fishing expedition quickly recalibrates into a dangerous and otherworldly adventure where humans are in a war for their lives. Falc and a rag-tag group of hearty ice-fishers battle bizarre creatures of lore, a mystifying landscape and the brutal elements in a race to survive.
Set against a dramatic wintry landscape, Howl of The Ice is an inventive fantasy novel perfect for younger readers. The relationship between Falc and his aging grandfather adds a warm familiarity and serves as a sturdy anchor in a story where reality’s hold is tentative, at best. Christian Raymond adds in just the right amount of suspense and peril as Grandpa Rikkar’s Alzheimer’s disease and Falc’s lake accident are worked into the clever plotline. Readers that are unfamiliar with the terrain will be given a fast education in winter survival gear and tools, all while being treated to a fabulously fantastical mythology created for the story. A fun tale about conquering our fears, Howl of The Ice is a frosty coming-of-age novel that is spooky and cool and will make you shiver right down to your bones!
