Sugar and Ice
Written by Kate Messner
In this heartwarming tale, twelve-year-old Claire Boucher has a pretty good life in Vermont. Her parents gather maple sap from over 500 trees each year. She does well in school, she has a solid best friend in Natalie, and she loves skating. When a high-profile Russian skating coach spots her at the Maple Show, he offers her a scholarship for training in Lake Placid, an hour-and-a-half drive from Mojimuk Falls. How can she say no to such a magnificent opportunity? At the same time, how can she expect her parents to drive her to Lake Placid several times a week? She accepts the scholarship and is thrown into to a whirlwind of excitement, self-doubt, exhilaration, no time for Natalie, new friends, cutthroat competition, and intangible rewards. After a lot of heartache and missteps, her skating improves but she still misses the other things in her life. And the training atmosphere is not quite what she expected, either.
Fourth graders and older, especially girls, will love the idea that anyone can be discovered. Readers will learn a lot about competitive sports, and specifically skating terms. Claire’s math project about Fibonacci numbers is a strong theme that should interest even haters of math. Both of these themes provide ample room for reading activities. Ultimately, Claire learns a lot about herself and about what’s important in her life. She learns to stand up for herself and that it’s okay to say no.
Learn about the author and her other books at her website: www.katemessner.com.
Title: Sugar and Ice- Author: Kate Messner
- Publisher: Walker & Company/Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010
- Reviewer: Sue Poduska
- Format: Paperback, 288 pages
- Genre: Contemporary middle grade fiction, figure skating, math, friendship
- ISBN: 978-0-8027-2330-7
