Blessed-or cursed-with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff … staff of servants. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.
more
This is a retelling of a Nordic fairy tale set in an atmospheric Viking world that follows a girl who can speak to animals and a bear who is a prince. If you liked Uprooted, this is a wonderful lyrical tale in a similar vein.
I enjoyed the narrator for this story, but the story itself seemed anti-climatic after the build up to the showdown between the Lass and the troll Queen/Princess. The romance is light and clean, appropriate for young readers. Rylo the wolf is my favorite character.
Those of you who are familiar with the Norwegian Fairy Tale EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON will recognize many elements of that story, since this novel is essentially a retelling of it. But what a wonderful job Jessica Day George does in bringing this story to life!
Not much is said about the nameless young woman who loses her prince to the Troll Princess in the original tale. But Ms. George spends a great deal of time at the beginning of the novel telling us about her and her life as a woodcutter’s daughter, at a time when everyone is near starvation due to the near-constant winter they have to endure.
And so we meet Lass as a baby and young child, and we understand her neglect by her mother and the weak father who stands by and lets it happen. When she is nine years old, her eldest brother finally returns home, prematurely sad and grey. And so we wonder why. Then Lass meets an enchanted animal, gains an unusual skill, her fame spreads, and one day a Polar Bear knocks at the door…
Beautifully told in limpid prose, Jessica Day George’s retelling of this Norwegian tale is a must-read. Five stars.
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow (2008) is an original YA fairy tale written by children’s author Jessica Day George. In this once-upon-a-time, a little Norwegian girl with no name, simply called “the lass,” is granted a special gift – to speak to animals – by a magical white reindeer.
The lass is a woodcutter’s daughter, and the youngest of nine children. Her family lives in a cabin in the forest, their Northern land under a strange curse that keeps it perpetually wintertime. The lass adores her eldest brother, Hans Peter. But since his voyages at sea, he has returned withdrawn and sad. When an enchanted isbjørn, or polar bear, asks the lass to stay with him for one year in an ice palace, Hans Peter urges the lass not to go. But the lass agrees to accompany the isbjørn anyway. After all, how bad could a year in a palace be?
From the first sentence, I was hooked to this story. I was fascinated when the lass arrived at the ice palace, and by the mysteries of why she was brought there, who was the strange visitor to her chambers at night, and where the palace had come from. In the third act, the lass rides the four winds and encounters a troll kingdom to rescue her love. Creative, romantic and imaginative, Sun and Moon… is a unique and solid, old-fashioned fantasy for young adults and the young at heart.
A wonderful retelling of the Nordic tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”.