The Revenant meets True Grit with a magical twist in this thrilling and atmospheric debut fantasy about two teens who must brave a frozen wasteland and the foes within it to save their loved ones and uncover a deadly secret.

The answer to what freezes first is the eyes. That ain’t what most people would guess.

Everyone in Shadow Springs knows that no one survives crossing the Flats. But the threat of a frozen death has never deterred the steady stream of treasure hunters searching for a legendary prize hidden somewhere in the vast expanse of ice. Jorie thinks they’re all fools, which makes scavenging their possessions easier. It’s how she and her sister, Brenna, survive.

Then Jorie scavenges off the wrong body. When the dead man’s enemy believes Jorie took something valuable from the body, he kidnaps Brenna as collateral. He tells Jorie that if she wants her sister back, she’ll have to trade her for the item he thinks she stole. But how can Jorie make a trade when she doesn’t even know what she’s looking for?

Her only source of information is Cody, the dead man’s nephew and a scholar from the South who’s never been hardened by the harsh conditions of the North. Though Jorie’s reluctant to bring a city boy out onto the Flats with her, she’ll do whatever it takes to save her sister. But anything can happen out on the ice, and soon Jorie and Cody find they need one another more than they ever imagined — and they’ll have to trust each other to survive threats beyond their darkest nightmares.

Published
February 9, 2021
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Author

Ellie Cypher

Ellie Cypher was born and raised in Northern California, graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California, Davis. Though she has lived and worked all over the world, from Tasmania and New Zealand to the UK she currently resides in the great state of Tennessee. When not writing for young adults, she can be found spending her time caring for all manner of creatures great and small or hiking the Great Smoky Mountains with her husband and black Lab.