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The Ice House

Contributors

By Monica Sherwood

Formats and Prices

Price

$7.99

Price

$9.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 16, 2021. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

With shades of When You Reach Me, The Thing About Jellyfish, and Bridge to Terabithia, and a big, timely climate hook at its core, here is a heartfelt middle grade debut about the inevitability of change that will resonate profoundly during these extraordinary times.

Spring has arrived, and yet an unyielding winter freeze has left Louisa snowed into her apartment building for months with parents coping with extreme stress, a little brother struggling with cabin fever, and—awkwardly—her neighbor and former close friend, Luke. The new realities of this climate disaster have not only affected Louisa's family, but when Luke's dad has an ice-related accident and it's unclear if he'll recover, both families' lives are turned upside down.

Desperate to find an escape from the grief plaguing their homes, Louisa and Luke build a massive snow fort in their yard. But their creation opens up an otherworldly window to what could lie ahead, and sets them on a mission: to restore the universe to its rightful order, so the ice will melt and life will return to "normal".

With a deft combination of heartfelt prose and a touch of magic, Monica Sherwood's affecting debut novel is a relatable story of families grappling with—and emerging from—a different kind of quarantine.

  • "A gentle and thoughtful story about the magic that can be found in resilience, art, and most of all, friendship. A very prescient book…Genuine and heartwarming."
    Jasmine Warga, Newbery Honor-winning author of Other Words for Home
  • “A beautifully written novel about a world of mostly physical isolation and virtual connection that seems all too familiar [and that] readers will strongly relate to.”
    Dusti Bowling, author of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
  • “A sensitive, authentic hero’s journey through the unexpected, cumulative grief that life can bring and the resilience on the other side.”
    Melissa Savage, author of Lemons
  • "A beautiful reminder that sometimes, things that break can’t be pieced back together exactly as they were—but they can be made anew."
    Kate O’Shaughnessy, author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane
  • "Sherwood...successfully captures the turmoil of living far apart and unbearably close."
    Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
  • "A timely exploration of climate, grief, and change."
    Kirkus Reviews

On Sale
Nov 16, 2021
Page Count
352 pages
ISBN-13
9780316705325

Monica Sherwood

About the Author

Monica Sherwood grew up on Long Island and currently lives in New York City. She is a former elementary school teacher with a master’s degree in Childhood and Special Education from Hunter College and currently works in educational technology designing digital products for teachers and kids. The Ice House is her debut novel.

Learn more about this author