The Ice House

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 Louisas family, but when Lukes dad has an ice-related accident and its unclear if hell 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 Sherwoods affecting debut novel is a relatable story of families grappling with--and emerging from--a different kind of quarantine.