The Way Past Winter

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It has been winter for five years, and Sanna, Mila and Pípa are left alone in their little house in the forest – with nothing but cabbages to eat – when their brother Oskar is lured away by the same evil force that took their father years ago and has been keeping spring from coming. Mila, the brave middle daughter, sets out on a quest to rescue Oskar and the village’s other lost boys and to find the way past winter. Clearly inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia and especially Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy, this middle grade novel is set in an evocative, if slightly vague, Russo-Finnish past and has more than a touch of the fairy tale about it. I enjoyed it well enough, but wouldn’t seek out anything else by the author. Perhaps the book would be satisfying for younger children (in the 7-9 range) for whom simple fantasy plotting is more apt, but then the characters are too old and jaded, the opening too sophisticatedly drawn, and the occurence of death and violence too adult, for me to imagine anyone under the age of about twelve would be up for this. Nothing is vivid or richly imagined past a very well-drawn opening. The characters, settings, atmospheres and events are vague, leaving no real satisfaction to be found either as a bold folk tale or a nuanced fantasy novel. However, I just feel that the world building and plot isn't really explored to its full extent here. Folktales and culture are talked about briefly, more as a plot device than anything else, but never really examined or discussed in depth. I wanted to more about the Bear, how he came to be and what his true intentions might have once been before he steps down this dark path of revenge and rage.

As the book description says, three sisters live with their brother until a stranger turns up. Following the events that happen that night, a journey is undertaken to save a sibling. Non posso certo dare un giudizio sulla narrazione data la mia ignoranza linguistica, ma nel complesso lo stile dell’autrice mi è parso fluido e intrigante. I really enjoy the writing of Kiran Millwood Hargrave and The Way Past Winter is no exception, it has all the ingredients of a beautiful, timeless fairytale, and is sure to enchant both adults and children alike.Mila sets out on a perilous quest to rescue Oskar, leading her through frozen landscapes. Mila will have to find a way past the eternal winter to reclaim spring again and reunite her family. Regalo di un Natale passato, questo piccolo libricino si è rivelato il compagno giusto per passare un freddo pomeriggio d’inverno. Essendo pensato per un target giovane, il testo è molto facile da comprendere per pace del mio cervello fuori allenamento, motivo per cui ve lo consiglio anche se non siete molto esperti in inglese. This was a very enjoyable and atmospheric read aloud. An ideal story to read by an open fire, essential to read in winter and preferable to read just at the end of winter when the hope of spring is in sight. Kiran Millwood Hargrave was born in Surrey in 1990, and her earliest ambition was to be a cat, closely followed by a cat-owner or the first woman on Mars. She has achieved only one of these things, but discovered that being a writer lets you imagine whatever you want. There were some parts that those reading aloud to young children might want to be aware of the boys who are captured are turned into a sort of living zombie, most of them feed the heart tree, but one is frozen in the ice so that the rescue sleigh cannot pass, the description of this boy being killed is quite graphic and though fine for a read aloud to a 16 year old I would have felt uncomfortable reading this to smaller children. The description of the boys being sacrificed for the tree is also quite horrific and might provide vivid nightmares to a younger child. Also when the reason for all this trouble is revealed we were left wondering why this person would cause all this trouble when they were someone who warned about such actions.

E in secondo luogo perché The Bear aveva tutte le ragioni di essere incazzato e di aver portato l’inverno perenne, mentre il padre dei ragazzi è stato un idiota. Deep in the frozen North, Mila lives with her two sisters, Sanna and Pipa and elder brother, Oskar. Being the middle child is a challenge in itself but more so when you lose your mother at childbirth and your father disappears without a word. With the endless snow and little to live off, Mila's life takes a turn for the worst when a bear of man appears at their door one night with his legs tangled in odd golden cords and stepping on the snow lighter than a hare. His presence and story will challenge and change Mila's life forever. This middle grade exudes the very essence of winter. From snowy landscapes, to ice covered forests and dog pulled sleighs, the descriptions are wonderful. You can almost feel the cold, and wrapping up warm in furs along with Mila and her sisters. This relationship is also quite heartwarming in itself. All the siblings, although not perfect, share a special bond. It's well written, as I would expect from Millwood-Hargrave, who seems to have this ability to create intricate and carefully balanced relationships that are complicated yet deeply moving and more importantly, believable.As every book featuring snowfall must be by law, this book has been compared to Nothern Lights by Philip Pullman but in truth it doesn't aim to be that kind of book - rather than the modern fantasy genre of Northern Lights, it aims for a more folkloric story; a grand, perhaps allergorical, grown-up fairy-tale.