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Reviewed by:
  • First Light
  • April Spisak
Stead, Rebecca First Light. Lamb, 2007 [336p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-94017-0$18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-84017-3$15.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-7

Chapters alternating points of view chronicle the intertwined lives of two teens: twelve-year-old Peter, who is accompanying his scientist parents on a trip to Greenland, and fourteen-year-old Thea, a member of Gracehope, a secret society built under the ice, who has long been plotting to see the world above. The two first meet when they join forces to save Thea's best friend, who loyally accompanied her on her forbidden quest to the surface and who is now trapped in the ice. After saving him, the pair moves on to questions, revelations, and confrontations, and both realize that their lives will be irrevocably different from having met. The elegant descriptions of the unforgiving world of Greenland are impressive, as ice, snow, and wrenching winds are somehow made so appealing as to entice the reader to want to visit. However, the convoluted and somewhat unconvincing mythology of Gracehope is confusing to the point of obfuscation, and the familial connection between Peter and Thea (they turn out to be cousins) seems forced rather than fated. In addition, although the later chapters are effectively terse and dramatic, the first third of the novel unfolds at such a glacial pace that readers may need coaxing to stick around for when it gets exciting. Fans of DuPrau's earnestly environmental Books of Ember series (most recently, The Prophet of Yonwood, BCCB 5/06) may still find much to enjoy here as fantasy melds with messages about the destructive ecological impact humans have on the world. Indeed, after readers have become engaged with the [End Page 56] residents of Gracehope, the eventual unveiling of its certain doomed fate because of global warming will likely evoke a strong emotional response and may even inspire a few readers toward environmental activism.

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