Breadcrumbs in Clean Reads

Aug 08, 2012 Amanda rated it it was amazing

This is a really wonderful children's book on so many levels. It's a retelling of The Snow Queen fairy tale, but done in an unexpectedly original way. It's a modern coming of age realistic fiction tale. These two settings are so cleverly melded together you barely notice it. It's a story of friendship between two kids, Hazel and Jack, who each have the sadness and family challenges in their lives made easier by each other, it's a story about the power of literature to heal and guide through trou
This is a really wonderful children's book on so many levels. It's a retelling of The Snow Queen fairy tale, but done in an unexpectedly original way. It's a modern coming of age realistic fiction tale. These two settings are so cleverly melded together you barely notice it. It's a story of friendship between two kids, Hazel and Jack, who each have the sadness and family challenges in their lives made easier by each other, it's a story about the power of literature to heal and guide through troubled times. A story of true friendship.

There may be tons of similar themed books out there but very few are this beautifully written. Listen to this description of jack from ch 7.

" Once upon a time there was a boy named Jack who lived on a place mat of a yard. He lived with his father who held the whole house on his back, and his mother whose eyes registered nothing when they looked at him. He was made of superheroes and castles and baseballs, but sometimes he had trouble remembering that."
The Snow Queen is also chillingly described as one whose eyes were:
"as bright as the sun reflecting off snow. But they were cold things, and it was like looking for solace in frost."
There are so many quotable passages from this book that this review could made entirely off them but those were two excitedly read aloud to me by my nine yr. old daughter followed by " mom you HAVE to read this. Who could resist that? Not me. You shouldn't either.

One of the most fun aspects of reading this book were the many, and I mean MANY, interweaved references and allusions to other works of children's lit. At first the references crept up on me. I thought to myself here and there , "hmm, that reminds me of something from Hans Christian Anderson or Grimm's fairy tales, but when The Snow Queen, with a sly smile said to Jack "Turkish Delight?" and responded to his, "huh?" with "Just a little joke, let's go," as she whisked him away. I knew this fairy tale retelling was going to be fun. There were some obvious references to everything from Narnia and Coraline, The Wizard of Oz and greek mythology, but also some very subtle ones. It was fun to spot them and I'm sure there are many I missed. However, this book is always very much itself and never derivative, the reader never feels like pieces of it are ripped from others. The references here are used to show that Hazel and Jack are well read children and like all well read children, what they read influences their world view. It also showed the power of fantasy novels to heal and escape from real word problems. Hazel at one point picked up a book which i think was When You Reach Me but quickly put it down again, because it was too close to her real life. Who hasn't done that?
And if as a reader you have read those same books, you feel an affinity with Hazel. Subtle references, one word or sentence is all that is needed and you have a shared understanding of what needs to be done to face her current urgent situation, there are puberty metaphors all over but great acts of selflessness too. I loved how the little match girl scene played out.
Is this book a metaphor for puberty as some have suggested? I don't care. It's just good.
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Jul 21, 2015 Denae Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: alternate-reality-fantasy, listened-to, retellings

Reader thoughts: This book has two halves.

The first half is about a depressed little girl who struggles to like anything in life except her friend Jack who ends up dumping her and disappearing. Hazel has school trouble, family problems, reads too much, and mopes a lot. Oh, and it snows a lot.

The second half is about an adventurous little girl going into magic woods after her friend to save him from the evil witch. She meets some kind things and some evil things and never wavers from her goal of ...more

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Mar 01, 2016 Dia rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult-juvi

Update 3/3/16: I've been thinking about this book all day and feel that I was wrong in giving it 2 stars. There are themes running through the book that I liked. I think that the main character constantly feeling misunderstood overshadowed the good things in this book. Also the fantasy part was a little darker than I was expecting. I might give the book a second chance and read it again.

3/2/16 I give this 2.5 stars. I struggle with books where in the child's eyes all adults don't understand, the ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Heather rated it liked it

Shelves: read-middle-grade, read-childrens

3.5 stars. An interesting mixture of realistic and fantastic (as in fantasy, that is) storytelling.

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Jun 09, 2017 Brooke rated it liked it

I enjoyed this retelling of The Snow Queen. However, I was left wanting at its abrupt end. (Age rec 11-12.)

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Apr 02, 2012 Kim rated it really liked it

This was a cute story for older elementary school/middle school aged kids, and me, who loves books for elementary/middle school aged kids! Quick, fun, light read with good lessons. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy!

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