Ele Fountain’s ability to create excellent plot and set it in a location and community unknown to the reader is really unique – we learn so much in this book about Inuit village life, past and present, as well as the threats posed to the landscape – and the people and animals who have always lived in them – of the arctic circle – yet never feel preached at, or as if the desire to educate overtakes the powerful story. Instead, we are quickly drawn into the worlds of both Bea and Yutu, one struggling with loneliness and battling with the disruption of constantly having to move from one country to another because of the transient nature of her father’s job as a geological expert advising oil companies, the other fighting for greater freedom as he grows up cared for by his traditionally minded and strongly protective grandmother in a village on the edge of the expanse of icey landscape north of Alaska being increasingly affected by climate change. The two teenagers’ worlds collide when Bea’s dad takes her on a work trip north, but things rapidly spiral out of control and Bea finds herself alone and in need of shelter, and unwittingly comes to Yutu’s aid… Fountain writes simply yet compellingly, rendering this a real page turner. Highly recommend it for 11-12 year olds!