Sugar and ice

Kate Messner

Book - 2010

When Russian skating coach Andrei Groshev offers twelve-year-old farm girl Claire a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid, she encounters a world of mean girls on ice, where competition is everything.

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Subjects
Published
New York : Walker 2010.
Language
English
Main Author
Kate Messner (-)
Physical Description
275 p. ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780802720818
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

One moment Claire Boucher is tapping the sap from her family's maple trees; the next she is plucked from obscurity by a coach who sees her skate in the Maple Show and offers a scholarship in Lake Placid. From there the story takes a familiar path, as Claire must pursue her dream even as she fights off the mean girls who inhabit the world of competitive skating. Messner is awfully good at individualizing what might otherwise be stock characters, especially Claire, whose eagerness and apprehension come in equal measure. Of course, the (sometimes) glamorous world of figure skating doesn't hurt for drawing readers, and even those who don't know their double toe loops from their single salchows will enjoy reading about what it takes to make it on the ice. Although this gets a bit melodramatic at the end, there are several twists that readers will enjoy. Satisfying and likely to have wide appeal.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-7-Claire Boucher is a busy seventh grader. She not only balances school with the responsibilities of work on her family farm, especially now that the maple sap is running, but also coaches young skaters at the nearby skating school. On the day that this delightful novel opens, she is rushing to get ready for the annual Maple Show. While she's aware that a famous Russian skating coach will be scouting, she is not hopeful that he's there for her. Competition terrifies her. But she lands her double toe loop and is offered a scholarship to the summer program at Lake Placid. But how can Claire ask her already busy parents to make the hour and a half drive three days a week? Does she really want to compete? Is she squandering her incredible talent if she chooses not to accept the offer? Messner has a flair for depicting engaging characters who are imperfect without being quirky. The dialogue between classmates and siblings is realistic, and the intergenerational or extended family relationships are interesting. The author shows the intensity of the world of competitive skating without dwelling on its rough edges, making it accessible not only to tween readers, but also to those who might have Olympic aspirations. There's a neat little twist in the plot and an ending that is sure to both surprise and resonate.-Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

Twelve-year-old ice skater Claire Boucher is offered a scholarship to train at Lake Placid, where she finds herself rocked by the challenges of competitive skating. The introspective Claire shares her refreshing perspectives on mean girls, a tough Russian coach, shifting friendships, and her love for her family's Vermont maple sugar farm. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.