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Ice Angel
Zack and Clovis are obsessed with the strange and unexplained disappearance of their father, Balthazar. Every night he used to drive his van, the Ice Angel, from the family's secret mountain home into Rockscar City to sell flavoured ices to the rich and dispense free, clean drinking water to the poor. But that was before the night the Ice Angel was found on the mountain road, mysteriously abandoned, and Balthazaar never seen again ...Now, many years later, Zack and Clovis revive the Ice Angel and plan to carry on their dad's legacy, using the family's secret spring and old recipe book to create the most mouth-watering ices imaginable: crushed vanilla with ginger crystals, coffee and bitter chocolate with frozen crystallized orange spoons, and cherry and cream vanilla bombes. But great danger looms -- Scarspring Water Company, headed by the ruthless Anshelm Scarspring, punishes anyone dispensing water. Is there a link with the mystery of their dad's disappearance? And what of Anshelm's obsession with the great wilderness beyond the city, with legends of troll who inhabit it, and with secret maps ...Then drought hits Rockscar City: water supplies are polluted and dry up. Protests and riots brew against the Scarspring Water Company. And everything Zack and Clovis believed about their father and mother, begins to unravel ...
- GenresFantasy
427 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 1, 2024
3.5
This was a book I bought at my school’s book fair at least 10 years ago and it’s sat on my shelf ever since. I’m very glad I’ve now picked it up and ticked it off my TBR now.
I thought this was a good book, aimed for 9-12. It has exciting and scary moments that keeps the reader invested. I thought the plot of the story to be quite original, the water drought, illegal ice cream selling and some fantasy troll hunting thrown in too. I think a lot of children would like this.
My only complaint, and what stopped it being a 4 star book was the ending. It’s so exciting but sadly a bit rushed. It left me wanting more but not in a good way, I felt a bit cheated.
But I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it for children who like a bit of danger and high stakes.
This was a book I bought at my school’s book fair at least 10 years ago and it’s sat on my shelf ever since. I’m very glad I’ve now picked it up and ticked it off my TBR now.
I thought this was a good book, aimed for 9-12. It has exciting and scary moments that keeps the reader invested. I thought the plot of the story to be quite original, the water drought, illegal ice cream selling and some fantasy troll hunting thrown in too. I think a lot of children would like this.
My only complaint, and what stopped it being a 4 star book was the ending. It’s so exciting but sadly a bit rushed. It left me wanting more but not in a good way, I felt a bit cheated.
But I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it for children who like a bit of danger and high stakes.
March 22, 2015
The story was great, yes. I would have given it a higher rating if it started a teeny bit faster at the beginning. I was very tempted to put the book down and read another one, but I kept on reading. There's about that first 70-100 pages introducing the story and unfolding its mysteries, and it would have been great if the author took tose 30 pages less doing that.
But, as the story evolved, the book became un-put-down-able. The storyline became very much more interesting, especially when the Mariette and Mayor/Zack question emerged.
(Why do the children refer to their mum as 'Mariette' not 'Mum' or 'Mother'???)
FYI: Not that it bothered me or anything, but I noticed the use of really short sentences, lots of colons (:) and dashes (-) for (I think) no reason.... maybe there is one, but I don't know what it is so if you know pls tell me...
But, as the story evolved, the book became un-put-down-able. The storyline became very much more interesting, especially when the Mariette and Mayor/Zack question emerged.
(Why do the children refer to their mum as 'Mariette' not 'Mum' or 'Mother'???)
FYI: Not that it bothered me or anything, but I noticed the use of really short sentences, lots of colons (:) and dashes (-) for (I think) no reason.... maybe there is one, but I don't know what it is so if you know pls tell me...
September 21, 2017
Zack and Clovis are obsessed with the strange and unexplained disappearance of their father, Balthazar. Every night he used to drive his van, the Ice Angel, from the family's secret mountain home into Rockscar City to sell flavoured ices to the rich and dispense free, clean drinking water to the poor. But that was before the night the Ice Angel was found on the mountain road, mysteriously abandoned, and Balthazaar never seen again ...Now, many years later, Zack and Clovis revive the Ice Angel and plan to carry on their dad's legacy, using the family's secret spring and old recipe book to create the most mouth-watering ices imaginable: crushed vanilla with ginger crystals, coffee and bitter chocolate with frozen crystallized orange spoons, and cherry and cream vanilla bombes. But great danger looms -- Scarspring Water Company, headed by the ruthless Anshelm Scarspring, punishes anyone dispensing water. Is there a link with the mystery of their dad's disappearance? And what of Anshelm's obsession with the great wilderness beyond the city, with legends of troll who inhabit it, and with secret maps ...Then drought hits Rockscar City: water supplies are polluted and dry up. Protests and riots brew against the Scarspring Water Company. And everything Zack and Clovis believed about their father and mother, begins to unravel ...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2025
Another substantially important book for me, I used to scour the internet looking for related content, but considering how underrated it is, I found none. I really enjoyed the spooky tone this had to offer as well as the close-knit brotherly relationships woven in to darker family troupes. I appreciate many were disappointed with the amount of spelling errors but I chose to ignore that simply because of the fact 'Zack' was the cause of my extreme daydreaming problem coming back - I had a character called Zach and as I read the story his personality used to warp in to Zack's so I believe I actually wrote a fanfiction inspired by this story. But hey, let's not judge eleven year old me
June 6, 2022
I only gave this book three stars because, one I found a couple of spelling mistakes and simple errors which makes the book feel like it was not proof read and two the ending felt rushed.
It was a good story line and perfect for younger children, except Golightys death which bumped the age group up. It made you feel like it didn’t know what it’s target audience was. I liked the general idea that there’s trolls and they’re protecting the water sources but some points in the book just weren’t logically. For example Anshelm causing the shortages so he could dig? To get proof about his trolls, it was just a little confusing. Also there’s no real explanation about the Scarspring curse it needed more elaboration.
The characters were well developed and you got an understanding for who they were and there motives. Especially learning the truth about Golighty at the end. I enjoyed this read but it didn’t have the pace and tension it needed to keep you reading. I found this book took me a lot longer than normal to read.
Once I got to the end the action picked up with the riots and Trolls but it gained to much speed and it just ended so abruptly. I didn’t like that one minute we were discovering what happened that night on wolf road and the next we have the point of view of a completely different character that hasn’t been shown for the entire book! So all in all the ending could’ve been better and the plot could’ve had more tension. Otherwise a good book for like 13-15 year olds I would say.
It was a good story line and perfect for younger children, except Golightys death which bumped the age group up. It made you feel like it didn’t know what it’s target audience was. I liked the general idea that there’s trolls and they’re protecting the water sources but some points in the book just weren’t logically. For example Anshelm causing the shortages so he could dig? To get proof about his trolls, it was just a little confusing. Also there’s no real explanation about the Scarspring curse it needed more elaboration.
The characters were well developed and you got an understanding for who they were and there motives. Especially learning the truth about Golighty at the end. I enjoyed this read but it didn’t have the pace and tension it needed to keep you reading. I found this book took me a lot longer than normal to read.
Once I got to the end the action picked up with the riots and Trolls but it gained to much speed and it just ended so abruptly. I didn’t like that one minute we were discovering what happened that night on wolf road and the next we have the point of view of a completely different character that hasn’t been shown for the entire book! So all in all the ending could’ve been better and the plot could’ve had more tension. Otherwise a good book for like 13-15 year olds I would say.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews