The Cold Is in Her Bones

This feminist retelling of the Medusa legend by van Arsdale (The Beast Is an Animal) brims with raw emotion and offers adult crossover appeal. Isolated on her parents’ rural farm and forbidden from contact with the outside world, 16-year-old Milla leads a sheltered life. She is desperate to please her parents, who view her with fear and disappointment, and her only consolation is her older brother, Niklas, who is being inexorably pulled away from her by new responsibilities. When Iris, a young woman from the village, comes to stay with her grandparents nearby, Milla finds a true friend for the first time in her life. It’s through Iris that Milla learns the dark truth about a demon claiming girls and women in the village. Even worse, Milla begins to experience changes that raise terrifying questions about her own identity. Lush with detail and symbolism and filled with strong characters who defy basic labels, the tale brings into sharp relief the experiences of the disenfranchised, the angry, and the powerless. Van Arsdale unrolls an artfully constructed series of events that will engage, frighten, and delight. Ages 12–up. [em](Jan.) [/em]