I think Frozen would be a good young adult novel for those interested in exploring historical fiction about the area. Frozen is entertaining, and a fairly quick read, and in spite of that one issue, I did enjoy the book.

Mary Casanova' Frozen is historical fiction/ coming of age/ mystery with odes to the suffragette movement, environmental conservation, and prohibition. The book trudges along at a slow but steady pace, allowing time for character development. It wasn't a bad story, although the ending felt rushed.

Fantastic read.The author is really able to set the FEEL of this time period and setting. I think that this is a whole character on its own.

** Reviewed for NetGalley **
Frozen is set in the 1920s and is the story of Sadie, who came live with a Senator and his wife when Sadie was found nearly frozen to death in a snow bank in northern Minnesota. She hasn't spoken since.

We learn through flashbacks snippets of Sadie's memories what happened to her and her mother's death. As Sadie grows into a young woman, she finds some photos of her mother scanitally clad and begins to wonder exactly what happened to her mother, who was a prostitute. Sadie also begins to find her voice and make some friends. She befriends a boy who is an active environmentalist and a girl who has seen a lot of the world. both of whom the Senator greatly disapproves of. This disapproval prompts Sadie to run away and find out what really happened to her mother.

As she finds out more, she not only gains her voice but learns of a world of corruption and secrecy involving the Senator and his cronies.

Set in northern Minnesota, the rich descriptions of the setting and the landscape had me looking up photos of the area to see exactly where the story takes place. The pacing at times seemed to drag but it was a fast read that definitely kept me engaged until the very end.

This compelling read won't be easy to put down. When author Mary Casanova wove this tale about a girl, her history, and the silence she keeps, she did it deftly. Set in the 1920s in Minnesota where it meets the Canadian border, this story about the main character - Sadie Rose - is powerful in the telling of her mother who died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found in a snowbank.

Unfortunately, Sadie Rose has scant memories of her mother, but she does remember that her mother worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake.

When Sadie Rose stumbles on some photographs, she realizes that the woman in them is her mother. Seeing these photos reminds her of mother and gives life to some long-forgotten memories. Sadie Rose is on her own personal journey to remember who she was before being found in the snowbank.

Sadie Rose's personal story is also set against the backdrop of a bigger drama of preserving Rainy Lake, as well as the forests of northern Minnesota. The environmental angle to the story reminds the reader why we all need some time outdoors. The description of the area, the aptness of the name 'Rainy Lake,' and the great wilderness where Sadie Rose tries to figure out who she is, who her mother was, and how she came to be living with the Senator will keep readers turning page after page.