Winterling

Title: Winterling
Author: Sarah Prineas
Published: Jan 2012
Reading Level: 5th grade
Interest Level: 5th grade and up
Genre: Fantasy
Other Books in the Series: Summerkin
Characters: Fer
Plot Summary: Jennifer or Fer as she likes to be called lives with her grandmother and has trouble fitting in at school. Then one day she rescues a boy from wolves and discovers that things are not as they seem. Fer's grandmother has been hiding a secret about what really happend to her parents and why Fer doesn't seem to fit in. It turns out that Fer's mother was from another world and Fer decides to venture into the other world to find out what happend to her parents. But things in the other world aren't right and the wrongness isn't starting to effect Fer's home. Can Fer fix the wrongness and find out what happend to her parents? Or should she just listen to her grandmother and come back home and forget about the other world?
Reviews: Sarah Prineas has created an entertaining and adventurous fantasy. Fer is raised by only her grandmother with little knowledge of what happend to her parents, but when Fer discovers that her mother was from another world Fer finds that she is drawn to that world in a way that she never was to the one in which she was raised in. The mystery of what happend to Fer's parents draws the reader in and the characters and the world created by Sarah Prineas keeps the reader interested. The Lady of the Land is a great villan, with a glamour that keeps her true evil self hidden for most the story but Fer can sense the wrongness. Fer grows through the story and while she benefits from the help of her friends in the new world and her grandmother, Fer is forced to make some tough and brave choices on her own. Tweens will relate to Fer's growing independence and delight in her ultimate triumph. The book is set to be a series and will probably draw in many readers with the books to follow. 
Themes: magic, family, good vs evil, identity
Read-alikes: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis
Why for Tweens? Fer is a great hero and role model for young tweens. Fer knows that she is different and it isn't until she enters into the other world that she finally sees why she doesn't fit in. But like many tweens it takes Fer a while to find her role and her identity. She develops strength and confidence as the story goes along that tweens will connect with.