Waiting On Wednesday (3)

As usual, hosted and created by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

ICE by Sarah Beth Durst

coming October 6, 2009 from Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books

When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairytale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth to become a prisoner of the trolls. Now that Cassie is older, she knows that this was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, she is determined to become a scientist, and she has no time for make believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face to face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned in the troll castle. And that he can bring her back -- if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairytale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knew will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her -- until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of ICE.

First, I love the cover. Adore adore adore. I love the blue icyness (wow, yeah. that sounds lame. continuing on,) colours and the contrast with, I'm assuming Cassie's, flaming red hair. Plus I'm pretty sure she has bright red hair, green eyes. That is such an amazing combination that I can only dream of having (being asian with brown hair, brown eyes). The book sounds a little like The Golden Compass with the talking polar bears. I'm not too sure about other resemblances, since I never read the Gold Compass. Tried and failed. But ICE sounds pretty good to me. :D

One can check out Sarah Beth Durst's site here.