Iceling by Sasha Stephenson (review)

Seventeen-year-old Lorna loves her sister, Callie, who was found, along with other abandoned babies, in the Arctic by Lorna’s scientist father, and who has been studied by the government ever since her arrival and adoption into Lorna’s family. Nonverbal Callie is prone to disruptive behaviors, and as they get worse, Lorna reaches out to Stan, the brother of another Iceling, as Lorna calls the now-teenaged foundlings. Lorna’s parents are out of town when Callie’s strangeness takes a new turn, and Lorna and Stan decide to support their siblings—which means a road trip to an unexpected destination, the peeling back of layers of secrets about the Icelings, and deadly danger. There’s some classic and enjoyable sci-fi here that could be straight out of a 1950s film, with inexplicable natural activity and shady government actions that go farther than the protagonist realizes. Lorna is a witty but sincere narrator, and the heart of the book is her love for a sibling she doesn’t understand; her devotion to Callie and her negotiation with Callie’s role in her life are more powerfully depicted here than in many realistic novels about disabled or neurodivergent siblings. An old-school serial cliffhanger ensures that hooked readers, of which there will be plenty, tune in for the next episode.