Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

I got this book, Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, from the library, I was attracted to it because it looked new and no one had read it yet (guess I might have felt sorry for it). The cover didn't thrill me much, but its about a bear and that grabbed my attention. Actually I almost didn't even read this book, since I waited so long and it was due back at the library. But on a whim I started it and am really glad that I did, in fact it took me less than a day to read. I LOVED it, really I did. The prologue starts with the fairy tale told by Cassie's grandmother, which is just a fairy tale, right? Well things happen and boy did they ever.

When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back -- if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie''s own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her -- until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

One of the things I found with this book was that the story just flowed nice and smoothly, there were no bumps along the way to make me think 'oh that doesn't belong there'. I loved the ending, it so worked for the story. Not only am I glad I read but I will be purchasing it to add to my bear shelf.