The Ice Bear Miracle

Cerrie Burnell’s new story sparkles with ice and magic, and is full of scenes and images that will entrance young readers.  Set in the far north of Canada, the narrative follows two young people, both of whose lives are marked by special encounters with wild animals. When Marv was a very young child, he left his house alone at night, ‘drawn to the ice, like a ship to a star’, and ran into an ice bear. Miraculously, he lived to tell the tale but is known ever after as the boy who survived a polar bear attack, and marked by the crescent moon scar across his face. Tuesday’s home meanwhile, is a travelling circus and at always at her side, closer than family could ever be, is Promise, a huge young polar bear. Their relationship is the most magical element of the book, and the scenes in which the two race together across frozen lakes, are simply breathtaking. Marv always believed he saw a baby on the ice on that eventful night, and when he and Tuesday meet, buried memories are awoken. It suddenly seems that the two young people are destined to be together, but fate has more in store for both.

If the story occasionally spins out of control, Burnell successfully creates her own folklore and the adventure itself is unforgettable, visions of the girl and her polar bear in particular full of an exhilarating sense of love, freedom and independence. An original and beguiling adventure with much to recommend it.