Stealing Snow

by Danielle Paige

Overview

From Danielle Paige, the New York Times bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, comes a re-imagining of "The Snow Queen" fairy tale.

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she's not crazy and doesn't belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.

Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn't what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid--her true home--with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she's sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything . . . including Snow's return to the world she once knew.

This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero.

"A lush and addictive fantasy woven from threads of magic, romance, and adventure by a master storyteller. Danielle Paige raises the bar with Stealing Snow."
--Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of The Lovely Reckless

"A magical, exciting adventure full of secrets, thieves, and witches, with a unique, fresh twist on an old legend."
--Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

"Just as a blizzard turns a familiar landscape into something both dazzling and deadly, Stealing Snow transforms the 'Snow Queen' into an adventure that's hauntingly beautiful and dangerously seductive."
--Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100

"Eerie, edgy and enchanting, Stealing Snow will transport you."
--Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Illuminae

"One of my favorite fairy tale retellings! Danielle Paige is a master storyteller!"
--Melissa de la Cruz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Isle of the Lost

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594692041
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Series:	Stealing Snow Series
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Danielle Paige is the author of Stealing Snow and its prequel novellas Before the Snow and Queen Rising, as well as the New York Times best-selling Dorothy Must Die series: Dorothy Must Die, The Wicked Will Rise, Yellow Brick War, and seven prequel novellas. Before turning to young adult literature, she worked in the television industry, where she received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City.

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@daniellempaige

Editorial Reviews

06/13/2016
Paige (Dorothy Must Die) pivots from Oz to fairy tales in this underwhelming offering based on The Snow Queen. Whittaker Psychiatric Institute has been 17-year-old Snow’s home since she was six and tried to walk through a mirror with her best friend, mistaking it for the “looking glass” in Alice in Wonderland. Snow’s love for a fire-obsessed fellow patient, Bale, makes life bearable. When she breaks into his room one night, he’s dragged into a window-turned-mirror; Snow then escapes Whittaker and is drawn into the magical, icy world of Algid. To find Bale, she makes a deal with a boy named Jagger and must confront her true destiny. Snow’s devotion to Bale isn’t given much substance (nor is he), lending little backbone to Snow’s quest, which mechanically ticks off familiar boxes: Snow learns she has a magical talent, must use it to vanquish foes, and reluctantly develops feelings for another. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with the ordinary-girl-discovers-she’s-extraordinary trope, but Paige doesn’t do much to enliven it in this fairy tale twist. Ages 14–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A lush and addictive fantasy woven from threads of magic, romance, and adventure by a master storyteller. Danielle Paige raises the bar with Stealing Snow." —Kami Garcia, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling coauthor of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and author of THE LOVELY RECKLESS

"A magical, exciting adventure full of secrets, thieves, and witches, with a unique, fresh twist on an old legend." —Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of WAIT FOR YOU

"Just as a blizzard turns a familiar landscape into something both dazzling and deadly, Stealing Snow transforms the 'Snow Queen' into an adventure that's hauntingly beautiful and dangerously seductive." —Kass Morgan, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE 100

"Eerie, edgy, and enchanting, Stealing Snow will transport you." —Amie Kaufman, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling coauthor of ILLUMINAE

"One of my favorite fairy tale retellings! Danielle Paige is a master storyteller!" —Melissa de la Cruz, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE ISLE OF THE LOST

"Suggest to readers looking for a modern story with dark, fairy-tale underpinnings." —School Library Journal

"Fans of Paige's Oz series hoping for a similar experience will not be disappointed." —Kirkus Reviews

"Captivating fantasy . . . Watching Snow be plunged into a world of new people and experiences after being closed off and numbed for so long is compelling. Perfect for readers who want their fairy tales to have a darker twist." - Booklist

"Within the classroom, students can look at this story as a comparison between the original tale of the Snow Queen and this one, examining how an author may build a character’s untold background" - VOYA

"Debut author Paige doesn't hold back in this fast-paced action novel. Give this cinematic upper-YA novel to fans of A. G. Howard's Splintered, Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars, and TV shows such as Once Upon a Time and Grimm." —School Library Journal on DOROTHY MUST DIE

"A classic made more sinister." —Booklist on DOROTHY MUST DIE

"Readers of Baum's books will take special delight in seeing new twists on the old characters, and they will greet the surprise climactic turnabout with the smugness of insiders." —Kirkus Reviews on DOROTHY MUST DIE

"Gone are the days of rainbows, Lollipop Guilds and pretty much anything to sing about in a major key. For those willing to go on a quest with a heroine more attuned to our times than the Dust Bowl era, there's no place like it." —USA Today on DOROTHY MUST DIE

"Paige delivers a solid, intense, and strange narrative that draws deeply on its source material." —Publishers Weekly on DOROTHY MUST DIE

From the Publisher

As seventeen-year-old Snow is introduced, readers are unaware that she is in the confines of a mental institute. Eventually Snow lets them in on the reasons she is a patient: she dragged a friend along with her through a mirror in order to get to Wonderland, and she believes she has powers that create a winter-like atmosphere. It is not until Snow’s love interest, Bale, gets pulled through a secret portal that readers come to understand the false accusation of Snow’s mental illness, and that there is a world beyond her present realm. This world is the country of Algid, where Snow discovers that she is a long-lost princess destined to inherit the throne from her evil father. At first, the novel seems to promise something different from the typical storyline of a girl finding out she is a long-lost princess; however, the plot seems poorly planned and rushed. Snow’s development from a former mental patient to a special-powers-wielding princess is too quick, losing opportunities for background and story-building as the plot moves on. Gerde and Kai have similar characteristics to the original Hans Andersen characters, and might be the most interesting characters. Snow’s many love interests make it hard to take her feelings seriously, as she is quick to fall for three mysterious males. Within the classroom, students can look at this story as a comparison between the original tale of the Snow Queen and this one, examining how an author may build a character’s untold background. Reviewer: Lauren Straub; Ages 11 to 14.

VOYA, October 2016 (Vol. 39, No. 4) - Lauren Straub

Snow has lived most of her seventeen years in Whittaker Psychiatric Hospital. She is given medicine each day which she has nicknamed Sleepy, Dopey, and Happy…keeping her in a mental fog. She’s unsure of exactly why she’s in this hospital, since she’s never felt crazy. Her first and only love, Bale, turned violent after their first kiss, but she’s not afraid of him. He’s her rock. But then Bale mysteriously disappears. One day a strange orderly comes into her room and tells her of a tree with markings that she’s been dreaming about. He also tells her that she must break free and find her way to the “other side” of the tree to Algid, a kingdom where she belongs, and where she can find Bale and help him escape. Algid is ruled by the ruthless King Lazar, who has frozen the land. She meets the River Witch who tells her of a special mirror, about her mother’s past and what is to come in Snow’s future. Snow must make some choices that will change Algid and all the people in the kingdom. Can she trust the River Witch or a village boy named Kai that she’s drawn to? Most importantly, Snow came to save Bale and return them back to their world, but is that her true destiny? This story is a clever reimagining of Snow White, with all kinds of twists and turns that leave the reader wondering if Snow is a hero or villain. This is a strong beginning for a series with various characters that draw the reader into their wintry world. Reviewer: Toni Jourdan; Ages 14 up.

Children's Literature - Toni Jourdan

06/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Snow and Bale are long-term in-patients in the most secure wing of rural New York's Whittaker Psychiatric Institute. Snow Yardley has had a full-time minder since she pushed a girl into a mirror 11 years ago. Bale is locked up for setting fires. The two 17-year-olds had been best friends, until their forbidden kiss pushed Bale into a violent state and then into near catatonia. When Bale's body is stolen away through an asylum mirror, Snow is distraught. Not long after, encouraged by dreams, she willingly follows a stranger through another mirror, to rescue Bale. In the land of Algid, she meets Kai and Gerde (nods to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen"), along with handsome Jagger and a band of Robber girls. In Algid, Snow's icy anger manifests itself in deadly icicles, ice arrows, and targeted snowstorms. Jagger refers to Snow as "Princess" and enlists her help in stealing back shards of a broken mirror that will save Algid from the tyrannical rule of King Lazar—Snow's father. If she completes this task, she will be reunited with Bale. Fairy-tale elements abound—witches, magical animals, fantastic powers, and separated twins raised apart. The action comes to an icy peak when Jagger, Snow, and the Robber girls dress up and crash the Duchess's Ball. VERDICT Suggest to readers looking for a modern story with dark, fairy-tale underpinnings.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

School Library Journal

2016-06-01
In this series opener, a magical kingdom is cursed with perpetual winter, and its only hope for redemption is…a teenage mental patient.Locked in Whittaker Psychiatric Institute since the age of 5, Snow Yardley's lonely life is bearable only because of her friend and fellow inmate Bale, with whom she shares her first kiss. When Bale mysteriously vanishes from the asylum, Snow's quest to save him leads her into Algid, a fairyland besieged by the father she never knew, the power-hungry King Lazar. According to an oracle's prophecy, Snow's return will either break her father's wintry curse or provide him with enough power to subdue Algid forevermore. Leaving her dystopian Oz for this contemporary retelling of "The Snow Queen," Paige (Yellow Brick War, 2016, etc.) gifts readers with a blonde, white heroine intent on saving herself and whose rebelliousness and hotheadedness feel all too real. The early chapters set in Whittaker are beautifully textured, but the transition into the magical realm is muddled, setting a tone for the worldbuilding that feels rushed. While the Snow-Bale romantic relationship is genuinely rendered, budding tension between Snow and Kai, an Algid engineer she encounters, seems perfunctory. The most intriguing aspect of Algid is that magic is controlled by emotion, enabling the author to address the fact that wielding power has real consequences. Fans of Paige's Oz series hoping for a similar experience will not be disappointed. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews