A lyrical debut about cross-cultural friendship and the power of storytelling. Aggie Brown lives in a climate-altered Arctic ruled by an absurdly bureaucratic regime. When she interferes with the theft of an Inuit spirit mask, she uncovers a conspiracy by a wolf-eyed woman, driven by demons of her own to take what Aggie holds most dear and destroy what is sacred.
Aggie teams up with her classmate Tommy Tulugaq, a hockey star stepping into his place in his community, where dreams carry messages and masks awaken secrets. Joining them is her faint-of-heart, strong-as-an-ox friend Emmett. Their journey leads them across the dangerous beauty of the melting polar ice cap—but the heart of the conspiracy lies farther still: an ultra-wealthy Manhattan transformed by canals.
To protect the people and places they love, they will need to entrust each other both with their burdens and their stories—and discover the mask’s power over travelers, guides and lost souls.
This YA fantasy is for readers who love Philip Pullman's moral complexity and satirical edge.
“An imaginative world and sophisticated themes combine in this rewarding blend of myth and mystery. Our Verdict: GET IT."— Kirkus Reviews
