In the sequel to Ice Dancing, Samantha and Alex are determined to win the championship, despite the interference of her parents and the fact that she has not been feeling well lately. Original.
Bwahaha, I just had a total flashback to sixth grade. My mom, slightly scandalized by the costume on the cover and skeptical of the quality of Scholastic book club school offerings, declined my request to buy this. In the most rebellious moment of my tween or teen life, I gathered up some babysitting money, brought it to school on book order day, and bought it anyway, "for a friend." Of course, she lent it to me to read first...
Who knows what kind of data mining (I've been reading a lot of articles about Olympic figure skating the past two weeks!) led to me coming across this on Kindle Unlimited this week (it's renamed and slightly updated with a mention of a DVD player), but I laughed so hard rereading this. Now that I'm the mom of tween girls and not the skating-crazy middle school bookworm, I can say emphatically that my mom was right! (My mom was always right.)
Very nice read, especially for kids in middle school. The characters had interesting personalities. I’ve been unable to locate the first book however, but I like the author’s writing style.
This continues to me one of my very favorite books from childhood (along with its predecessor, 'Ice Dancing') and I still revisit the charm of both books on a semi-annual basis. I adore the characters (particularly Alex and Samantha, and of course the sweet and hilarious-Toby) as well as the conflict they're facing, the lengths to which the two leads will go to in order to fulfill their goals, and the delightful chemistry between them. Nicholas Walker writes with a very clear voice and personality for each character and his descriptions of the routines during the competitions always make me feel like I'm really there watching. I truly can't say enough about how much I enjoy these books!
Ice Princess by Nicholas Walker was a book I picked because I read back to back to back thrillers. I wanted this to be full of cheesy 90s ice skating infused drama, and it wasn't that. Instead, it was the story of Samantha and Alex, ice dancing partners. Samantha has been sent to an all girl's boarding school and is taking some time away from skating per her parents' orders. Only thing is she wants to keep working with Alex, so they have to figure out a plan. So, that's what then transpires. Although y'all have to admit, the cheesiness of this cover is at least peak nineties.
One of my favorite "romance" novels from adolescence. I remember enjoying the characters and their "scandalous" meetings at the ice rink. Samantha was a feisty character, one of the first characters in my young reading life who went to private school like me. This book is British, so it may be hard for an American young person to understand the language and school customs at first reading. I would recommend this for a classroom library.
I never read the first book Ice Dancing, so some of the plot points were lost on me but I thought it was an overall good book when I read it as a preteen. Although I never did understand why if her parents were so afraid of losing her they would send her off to a boarding school.
I also found this book when I was clearing out some of my room. Even better than it's prequel, and still a great book for young girls who love ice skating.