Sugar and Ice: A Figure Skating Novel

[Isk8NYC]

Just finished reading "Sugar and Ice: A Figure Skating Novel" (Kate Messner, author)  It would be really nice for pre-teens to read. 

It's about a girl who is picked for a figure skating training program in Lake Placid and how she goes from being a talented pond skater (and junior coach at the local rink!) to competing at Nationals. 

The imagery of Lake Placid was dead-on; I could feel myself walking near the Oval.

I liked the "dream come true" part of the story because it's wasn't perfect and smooth, a lot of mixed emotions were involved, which is (in my mind) justifiable.  Skaters give up a lot of their childhood to make time for training and competitions.  I do think that, if the skater were from another walk of life, there's no way the frequent schedule changes and additions would have been tolerated by the family.

I wasn't thrilled with the ending, which I dont' want to give away.  I think that, while some skaters would choose that path, it was just a little too "happily ever after" and sketchy on the details.  (From someone who loves "and they lived..." endings, I was surprised to be disappointed.) 

Little bit of mean girl and relationship stuff, a bit of "whodunit," which sort of surprised me.  The coaches were all one-dimensional, but that's probably how kids see their coaches, so it was acceptable.

The author glossed over the final solution, making it seem easy-peasy.  Not terribly realistic, but if more details had been revealed, it would have been fine.  (It just seemed too pat, almost a cop-out solution.)

Still, it's a accurate take on figure skating in the US, unlike Disney's Ice Princess where she could do a Basic Skills show and end up passing her Novice Free, lol.  (I initially thought this novel was going to mimic that "science of skating" story arc, but it didn't.)  As a parent, I liked the emphasis on school and juggling assignments.

[hopskipjump]

I read it too and was disappointed with the ending.
move down for spoiler
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I find so many kid's books are written to avoid greatness now and put mediocrity as the path.