Ophelia, a timid eleven-year-old girl grieving her mother, suspends her disbelief in things non-scientific when a boy locked in the museum where her father is working asks her to help him complete an age-old mission. - (Baker & Taylor)
A modern-day fairy tale set in a mysterious museum introduces young skeptic and unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard, who on her first day in the strange museum where her father works discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room as a prisoner of Her Majesty the Snow Queen—and he has been waiting for Ophelia's help. - (Baker & Taylor)
“Magic is “messy and dangerous and filled with longing,” we learn in this brave tale of grief, villainy and redemption that borrows from the story of the Snow Queen. Set in a vast, chilly museum, the tale brings together a valiant girl, a charmed boy, a magical sword and a clock ticking down to the end of the world.”—The Wall Street Journal
This is the story of unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard who doesn't believe in anything that can't be proven by science. She and her sister Alice are still grieving for their dead mother when their father takes a job in a strange museum in a city where it always snows. On her very first day in the museum Ophelia discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room. He is a prisoner of Her Majesty, the Snow Queen. And he has been waiting for Ophelia's help.
As Ophelia embarks on an incredible journey to rescue the boy everything that she believes will be tested. Along the way she learns more and more about the boy's own remarkable journey to reach her and save the world.
A story within a story, this a modern day fairytale about the power of friendship, courage and love, and never ever giving up.
From the Hardcover edition. - (Random House, Inc.)
KAREN FOXLEE is the author of two young adult novels, The Anatomy of Wings and The Midnight Dress. She lives in Gympie, Australia, with her daughter.
About the Illustrator
YOKO TANAKA has illustrated children's books by Kate DiCamillo, Sara Pennypacker, R.L. LaFevers, Laura Godwin, and Keith McGowan. - (Random House, Inc.)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Ophelia is a grieving 11-year-old who only believes in things that science can explain. Following her beloved mother's death, her father takes a job at an enormous museum in a city where it constantly snows. There Ophelia discovers the imprisoned Marvelous Boy, who discloses to her that in three days the Snow Queen will discharge her wretchedness upon mankind. He further reveals that he must save the world before that happens and that only Ophelia can help him. As the boy tells his story, Ophelia accepts the challenges required to release him from his three-hundred-year captivity. She faces magical snow leopards, child ghosts, a Spanish conquistador, and a monstrous misery bird—none of which, like the boy, can be scientifically explained. Nevertheless, Ophelia learns there are truths she never dreamed of and that courage is less about bravery than about the decision to help people in need. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, this clever story-within-a-story reads easily yet offers deep lessons about trust, responsibility, and friendship. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Ophelia discovers a boy who's imprisoned...by the Snow Queen; to rescue him, Ophelia must find the boy s missing sword. This is a fable of psychic healing, in which Ophelia, mourning her mother, must battle the Queen armed only with her powers as "defender of goodness and happiness and hope." Foxlee's deftness with characterization and setting makes this a satisfying fantasy.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
Exploring the museum where her father is a guest curator, Ophelia discovers a small room in which, looking through a cleverly hidden keyhole, she spies the bright eye of a boy. He tells her that he's a prisoner of the Snow Queen, who, Ophelia discovers, is none other than Miss Kaminski, the museum's head curator. To defeat her, someone must find the boy's missing sword--and that someone is clearly Ophelia. Despite her conviction that "anything is possible if you have a plan," she learns that to succeed she must repress her scientific reasoning and use her heart. This is a fable of psychic healing, in which grieving Ophelia, mourning her mother only three months dead, must battle the Queen's sword (named the Great Sorrow) armed only with her powers as "defender of goodness and happiness and hope." The fable's moral and allegorical elements are thus readily apparent, but Foxlee's deftness with characterization and setting also makes this a satisfying fantasy. There's many a children's novel set in a museum, but Foxlee's is noteworthy for its creative abundance of exhibits (including sewing baskets and teaspoons, "A Millennium of Religious Hats," "Culture of the Cossacks," "History of Silhouettes," and many more). deirdre f. baker Copyright 2013 Horn Book Magazine.
