Snow Place Like Home

Diary of an Ice Princess #1

by Christina Soontornvat

A magical chapter book series from Newbery Honor Award winning author, Christina Soontornvat! Get ready for summer reading with a special edition of Diary of an Ice Princess #1: Snow Place Like Home! Princess Lina has a life any kid would envy. She lives in a massive palace in the clouds. Everyone in her family has the power to control the wind and weather. On a good day, she can even fly! She loves making lemons into lemon ice, riding wind gusts around the sky, and turning her bedroom into a real life snow globe. There's just one thing Lina wants: to go to regular, non-magical school with her best friend Claudia. She promises to keep the icy family secret under wraps. What could go wrong? (EVERYTHING!)

Genres: Fantasy, Chapter Books, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Friendship, School

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2019

About the author

Christina Soontornvat grew up behind the counter of her parents’ Thai restaurant in a small Texas town with her nose stuck in a book. She is very proud of both her Thai and her Texan roots, and makes regular trips to both Weatherford and Bangkok to see her beloved family members (and eat lots and lots of Thai food!). Christina is the author of the fantasy middle grade series, The Changelings, and the early chapter book series, Diary of an Ice Princess. Her forthcoming books include the middle grade fantasy, A Wish in the Dark, and All Thirteen, a nonfiction account of the Thai Cave Rescue.

In addition to being an author, Christina holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Science Education. She spent a decade working in the science museum field, where she designed programs and exhibits to get kids excited about science. She is passionate about STEM (science, technology engineering, and math), and loves learning new things. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, two young children, and one old cat.

Reviews

[Amy Risner · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute story and even as a 30-something year-old, I found the characters and themes so relatable!

Dairy of an Ice Princess: Snow Place Like Home tells the story of Lina, a princess who lives in a palace in the clouds. Her mother is a Windtamer and her father is a human (pilot!) It turns out that everyone on Lina's maternal side of the family can control some aspects of the weather, but Lina is struggling with summoning her own powers. She doesn't want to spend all her free time practicing and she just wants to be a non-magical kid doing non-magical things at a non-magical school. Of course, once she attends a "groundling" school, things don't go quite according to plan!

What I loved so much about this book is that it is ownvoices. The author is half Thai and white, and she created a mixed-race character which I know is going to mean so much to other mixed-raced children. It even meant so much to ME because I am also half Thai and white. I never had books with characters that looked like me growing up, so this book just made my heart so happy. Also, Lina's friend Claudia is black, and we even get a glimpse of Lina's family tree which is also very diverse!

I was also loving all the important themes and good messages in this book. Lina learns the value of compromise, confiding in her parents, admitting to her mistakes, and builds her reasoning skills (why X happened and the resulting consequences.) She discovers so much about herself and the importance of friendship, all while coping with pressures from family and how to overcome it.

As for the visual aspects, you'll find lots of beautiful illustrations all throughout the book. You'll meet Lina's dog, Gusty, and even recipes for some cool science experiments -- because, after all, the groundling school that Lina attends is all science based. Yay, STEM rep!

I loved this little book and I hope your child will, too! I loved how it was packed full of diversity and the overall messages meant a lot to me. If you are a librarian or teacher, please consider adding this book to your collection.

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[Debbi Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy to see a fabulous chapter book starring a mixed race character. My daughter (who is biracial) would have loved this book when she was a child, as she was constantly on the look out for characters that looked like her. Snow Place Like Home is about Lina, half Groundling and half Windtamer, who is trying to find her place in the world, while also trying to please her family and (Groundling) best friend. Lina is overjoyed to get to go to Groundling school with her best friend (who knows her secret about her powers controlling the wind) - but things do not go smoothly for Lina. She struggles to control her powers, and worries about disappointing her best friend and her own family. In the end, thanks to wise words from her mom, Lina learns self-acceptance which leads to her embracing her magical powers - a win all around! Most importantly, though, this is a fun story that young readers will love!

[Akoss · Rating 5 out of 5]

@Kidlitexchange #partner - I received a copy of this book from the Kidlitexchange network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Releasing 6/25/19

Princess Lina just like her mom, is a windtamer. She’s been working hard at learning to control her powers, but it's not until she gives herself time to understand why nothing is working the way it’s supposed to, that she finds the answer about her true self.
I love how vibrant Lina’s voice is. Her diary will draw you in from the start and you will quickly find yourself rooting for her. I’m amazed at how the author flipped a specific type of societal norm over it’s head. I’ll tell you what it is but I don’t want to spoil the book for you.

[ray ౨ৎ]

I FORGOT ABT THIS BOOK OMGAWRSH

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interest Level: K-3

Imagine that you can control the winds and weather. Cool, right? Now imagine that everyone in your family is great at this but you... not so much. Princess Lina knows that she needs to practice her powers of controlling the wind, but what she really wants to do is go to regular school with her best friend, Claudia. Lina's grandfather is not happy about it, but as long as she promises to practice on the weekends he is okay with her going. She is so nervous about going to school that she freezes a few things and makes it snow a little here and there. If that weren't bad enough, when she practices her wind powers on the weekends, she doesn't do well. Her grandfather offers her a challenge - one of the statues fell off of the castle and she has to use her wind powers to put it back in its place. Will Lina be able to fit in in a regular, non-magical school? Will Lina ever be able to perfect her wind powers and make the statue go back on top of the castle? Or will Lina be able to dig down deep inside herself and find her true talent? Read this precious story about a princess trying to be true to herself!

This is such a cute story about family and friendship. Lina's family and best friend are so supportive of her, especially when she is struggling. I love that Lina can be different from what is expected from her but she is still valued for what she can do. This is a great beginning chapter book! Don't miss this one!

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[Marissa Gehrke]

This was so good! Lina was a fun character as a half-groundling, half-windtamer princess, adjusting to human school while balancing pressure from her grandfather to learn to use her powers. I think the diary format worked really well, and the illustrations were cute. Parts of this were also really funny, like when Lina's friend Claudia tries to cover for her by blaming the air conditioning for the icicles growing on the classroom ceiling ("it happens at my house all the time!" lololol). I will say that as an adult reader, I actually had to go back and reread the part where she applies to the magnet school on Monday and receives her acceptance letter in the mail just two days later on Wednesday. That timeline makes no sense. But whatever. I loved this and totally recommend it. 

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute. My daughter enjoyed it. If your kid likes Frozen and Diary of a Wimpy Kid type books your kiddo will like this.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

My six-year-old said I had to read this because it was amazing! I'm so proud that she is reading now!

[Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute. She’s not like everyone else she’s an ice and snow girl.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kidlit Exchange Partner - also thank you to Scholastic for the ARC! All opinions are my own, but we'll have a problem if you disagree with me on the awesomeness of this new series.

If FROZEN was rewritten to be funnier, voicier, and more diverse, you would have something similar to Christina Soontornvat’s new chapter book/early Middle Grade book DIARY OF AN ICE PRINCESS: SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME. (First in a series).


On its face, Diary of an Ice Princess is a humorous and fun series about Princess Lina who wants to master her magical powers and enjoy a more traditional human childhood. Peel back a layer and Princess Lina plugs some gaps in the kidlit canon that have been a thorn in this writer/mom’s side.

Two days after I’d requested this book from Kidlit Exchange, my six-year-old Black/white biracial daughter unloaded on me after a frustrating trip to the library: “Why are all the princesses always white? It’s no fun when they just have one Black friend. Being white is not that special!” (If I didn’t live in a red state, I might consider printing the latter on a t-shirt).

So… yay for a non-blonde ice princess; sad it took us till 2019 to get one.

Princess Lina is REALLY of two worlds- her mother is a POC sky dweller and her father a white Groundling. To note, this is not stated in the text, but is clear in Barbara Szepesi Szucs’ illustrations.

Storyline is: Princess Lina’s already-present Groundling BFF Claudia encourages her to apply to a special STEM academy for Groundlings. She’s allowed to go on the conditions that she spends Saturdays with her formidable Granddad, learning to harness her Windtamer powers to one day rule the skies, and that she never tells any of the Groundlings who she really is.

Except Lina has more trouble adjusting than she should. She literally freezes an annoying classmate (give her a few years, Lina will have a crush on this guy) during freeze tag; and the school science fair is ruined by a freak September blizzard and Lina’s and Claudia’s experiment freezing.

Spoiler alert/another reason this book is so great: It turns out Lina’s failures as a Windtamer are because… she’s actually a Winterheart (hence the series title). Once she figures that out, she and Claudia are able to redeem their science fair fiasco through a sciencey soda snowstorm during the school talent show.

Give to: Fans of Owl Diaries, Polly Diamond, Jasmine Toguchi, and Notebook of Doom.

Something so frequently lost in the Girl Power messaging is that you can be both “girly” and smart/strong. Soontornvat nails that though, weaving it in throughout the book.

I believe I speak for mothers everywhere in saying: THANK YOU CHRISTINA for not specifying which brand of soda and mint candies produces an explosion.

DIARY OF AN ICE PRINCESS: SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME and its sequel FROST FRIENDS FOREVER go on sale July 30 from Scholastic.

Bonus: Check out Christina’s amazing pre-order giveaway on her site.

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lina is not like other kids. She is a Windtamer Princess. Her mom comes from a royal family that controls the winds and weather. Her mom specifically brings spring winds to the Earth. Her dad is a normal groundling pilot. Lina is just old enough that she's supposed to be coming into her powers. She can control the winds a little, but not enough to please her Granddad. So now she has to get tutoring with him every week. She loves her Granddad but he is kind of intimidating. Things are looking up in other areas though because she's convinced her parents to let her attend her best friend Claudia's groundling science magnet school. Lina enjoys groundling school but she's having a really hard time controlling her powers there. What is going on with her? Will she have to leave school and go live with Granddad in the sky?

I'm really excited about adding this series to our Elementary library. It's fantastic that the kids get to read stories from an author of Thai descent as our international school is in Thailand. I also like that the main character looks Thai as do her Mom and Granddad (the foods she mentions are also Thai-influenced). The entire book is filled with people of various colors. It's a great multicultural cast. I know some readers who will LOVE the gray tones with the hot pink coloring of the illustrations. And do you know how rare wind sylphs are in literature? Other mythical creatures tend to hog the shelf space. I don't know of any other lower grade series starring wind sylphs, and off the top of my head I can only think of 1 YA series and 1 middle grade series that do so. (Of course, they don't call them that in this book. Sylph isn't exactly the kind of word you throw at a kid just getting used to reading chapter books.) There are elements of this story that will also appeal to fans of Frozen though it is totally its own story. Hand this to lower grade readers who love fantasy and family stories.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an assigned book in my Children’s Literature Class (I’m an education major), and I was amazed by this story. I haven’t picked up a book meant for K-3 grade since I was that age so it was nice to see a newly published book for that age.

While this book is fantasy (ice magic), it has some real problems that kids might relate to. Lina, the main character, is half Groundling and half Windtamer. All she wants is to find her place in the world. Her family has two different backgrounds and struggles to find her path in both. She wants to go to a Groundling school but has magical powers that she also needs to get in control of.

This is a great book for kids to relate to. They can relate to being biracial and having one foot on each side of their heritage, or even the struggle to fit in at a new school. These are big concerns for children and this book covers this as well as other topics.

It’s difficult to find a non-white character in children’s literature and I love to see this, especially on the cover of the book. The author is Thai and it’s great for children to be exposed to other cultures.

In terms of reading, it’s a great book for transition readers. Kids who are starting to get into reading more than picture books. These types of books have chapters, but still have pictures to give the kid a break from reading and use them to help enhance their experience of the story.

I plan on keeping this book for my future classroom and I can’t wait to see a kid pick it off my shelf to read one day.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy of this book through Twitter. I was particularly interested in reviewing this book because it features diverse characters and also STEM/STEAM topics. The main character, Lina, is an Asian princess who lives in a palace in the sky. Her grandfather is the North Wind and he is teaching Lina how to control her family powers. Everyone believes Lina is a "Windtamer" like her mom and it's only a matter of time until she is able to control her powers. Lina longs to be with her best friend Claudia, so she enrolls in Claudia's Science & Arts Academy school. Suddenly strange ice begins to form within and around the school and Lina fears she may never be able to control her powers.

It is so refreshing to finally see diverse characters having "normal" problems and even having fun! There is no mention of race or culture but the illustrations weave the message within the story to convey the message that family comes in all different ways and colors.

This book is a must-have for all elementary libraries to provide those beginning chapter book readers an easy transition from picture books to more Intermediate Fiction chapter books.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My teaching partner received a copy of this book through twitter and I am so glad! This book features diverse characters and the main character is Asian. As a new mom to a bi-racial (half Chinese) girl I am now so much more aware of the lack of character diversity in children’s books. What I love about this book is that race or culture isn’t even mentioned. Many diverse books focus on culture or heavy topics when all kids really want is to read a fun story with a character that looks like them.

The main character, Lina, lives in a palace in the sky. Her mother is a windtamer and her grandfather is the North Wind or General of the Wind. Her best friend Claudia pushes her to enroll in her magnet school. Lina is thrilled to go to a real school for the first time! Problems arise when Lina has great difficulty with her powers. From icicles in the classroom, to literally freezing Dylan’s feet during freeze tag, Lina needs to get her powers under control because the whole sky is depending on her.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone on Twitter said her daughter is obsessed with the Ice Princess books, loves them so much that she writes fan fiction using the characters. I read the first one from the library, then sent the first two to one of my nieces.

Princess Lina walks a line between her winter weather family obligations, training with her grandfather the North Wind, and a regular life with her human friends at "Groundling" (like Muggles) school. She improves control of her talent after realizing that hers differs from her relatives' "Windtamer" magic.

[Samruddhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about an ice princess named Lina who lives in the clouds with her family. In this book, lina is going to school on the ground for the first time ever! Also, she is experiencing trouble with controlling her powers plus no one in her school should know her powers! It is a book with a lot of emotions that conveys it is ok to be different.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Tonight is the perfect night to start a new diary because there is no way I can fall asleep!”

Can you keep a secret? Lina is a princess. But not just any princess. Her mother is Princess Gail and she is a Windtamer, which is someone who can control the wind and weather. And Lina’s granddad is the one and only North Wind. Lina’s Dad is a groundling (human) and a pilot.

“When I get nervous, my wind powers go out of whack and things can get icy.” This is what happens on the day of the big family picnic in the sky. This upsets Granddad. He feels like Lina should be better at controlling her powers and thinks she should practice more, but Lina would rather hang out at the beach with her best (and only) friend, Claudia. Claudia knows about Lina’s secret.

It’s Claudia that brings up the suggestions that Lina apply to Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. At first, Lina’s mother isn’t too happy about it, but Lina promises that she’ll work every Saturday with Granddad to try to bring her powers under control. But weird things start happening with Lina’s powers, but she’s afraid to tell her mother.

“The whole sky is depending on me.” Maybe she can’t handle being a windtamer? Her Granddad keeps telling her to “Listen to your heart. Focus on what you’re doing.” Why is all this ice and snow happening whenever she’s around? Could it be that Lina’s heart is telling her something different?

This is like The Princess Diaries meets Frozen. Should be a good fit for students who are graduating from Owl Diaries

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Princess Lina loves her magical life living in castle in the clouds, but she also dreams of doing regular things at a Groundling (human) school with her best friend Claudia. Lina convinces her parents to let her try out human school, but Lina still doesn't have control of the wind powers she inherited from her mom. Whenever she feels strong emotions, Lina tends to make ice and snow appear in the world around her...and that ice and snow have followed her to her new school.

I read this series entirely out of order, though I am very happy to finally make it to the first book. This series is simply fun--with a great combination of humor, everyday school adventures, magic powers, and a lovely message of self-acceptance. Plus, this series stars a biracial main character, is written by a diverse author, AND is a fantasy series--a combination very hard to come by in first chapter books. Recommending to anyone and everyone.

[Elizabeth (Beth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:

This relatively new series for young readers is sure to capture the attention of the not so interested in reading reader as well as provide quality reading for both child and parent during nighttime reading rituals. The diverse characters and mixed-race princess are long overdue, and this author delivers not only diversity, but also humor, love, laughter and how to overcome challenges.

Princess Lina is struggling with her powers faltering. In a tale of friendship, magic and diversity Princess Lina and finds help and truth with the guidance of her grandfather along with some witty humor and the first book in a wonderful series.

Teaching Ideas:

Diary of an Ice Princess continued the recent trend of diary writing - incorporate diary writing into your classroom for writing and reading time. Have students create a fictional character to pretend to be and write about their day to day lives. Have students share and imagine how they could add to their diaries.

[Rebecca Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME is the first entry in a new series, Diary of an Ice Princess, about Lina, whose mother is a Windtamer and whose father is a groundling, or ordinary, nonmagical human. All of her mother's family has weather-related powers, and Lina will, too, but she's more interested in going to a groundling school with her best friend Claudia. Lina gets permission to go, but not everything goes as expected! Science enters the story when Lina enters a science fair and learns about the effect of temperature on chemical reactions. This illustrated chapter book is funny and full of magic for emergent readers who love Heidi Heckelbeck but want more developed plots and a STEM theme. Lina, like the author, is mixed-race Asian American, and readers will love to see a main character of color who's having fun with science. Perfect for fans of the Jasmine Toguchi and Desmond Cole series.

[N. Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone suggested I read this, and when I bought it, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The cover looks rather generic and sort of Disney-ish, but I was wrong. First, the pages are glossy. Silly? Maybe, but it felt like reading a magazine and there's text that it's in pink too. More than that, though, is the main character and her family and best friend, who are all interesting, unique characters, and not generic at all. The struggle she faces is real, and the mystery posed kept me engaged, and when I figured out what was happening, well, I was delighted. I really loved this little book and I'm so happy that it's part of a series. (on a side note, the art is better, and more diverse, than the cover telegraphs)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lina is part Windtamer and part "Groundling" (human). She is learning to control her powers since the whole sky is counting on her abilities. The problem is, she also wants to be a part of her father's world and be a normal girl going to school with her friends. In her diary, she chronicles a fantastical life straddled between two worlds and how she discovers and harnesses her abilities.

Our first and second graders are going to be thrilled with this new series, and bonus: written by a Thai author, this fun new fantasy series has Asian heritage and the nationality of over half our student population.

[Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m five years old and I really wanted to buy this book at my school’s book fair after seeing it in the little paper flier. But the book fair didn’t have it! Luckily, our local indie bookstore had it and my mom said we could get it.

In this book, the main character, a girl named Lina, is working on controlling her windtamer abilities. Her family is magical and has power over the wind, though her dad and her best friend are Groundlings (regular humans). When Lina attends a Groundling school, she just wants to be a normal girl - but she keeps freezing things accidentally. Can Lina make her talented family proud?

[Moses Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter who is 3 picked this book out. She cannot read so I read it to her a chapter a night before bed. I probably ended up enjoying the book even more than her lol. Also my son who is 6 loved the book, especially the science related topics.

The characters are very relatable and help teach kids about how to navigate relationships and learning to appreciate once skills and abilities and help improve on them among other good lessons.

All in all its a great book all ages can enjoy girls or boys.

[Shoshanah · Rating 5 out of 5]

We flew through this one! Snow Place Like Home, the first in the Diary of an Ice Princess series, was a bit of a mix between Sky High and Frozen.

Princess Lina is from a magical family of windtamers, and she’s still learning to control her powers. But all she really wants is to go to normal school with her best friend Claudia.

I really enjoyed Lina’s relationships, with her mom, grandfather, and best friend. We loved the pictures throughout! And each time we finished a chapter Kaylee begged for one more. Definitely a promising start to a new series!

4.5/5

[Stefanie Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning chapter book with simple sentences. Lina comes from an interesting background. Her Dad is a “groundling,” a human, and her Mom is a “windtamer,” she can control the wind. Lina has trouble controlling her powers and starts making mistakes. She’s freezing people’s feet, making icicles in the classroom and more. Eventually, Lina and her family realize she is a Winterheart: she controls ice and snow. It’s a very upbeat story with a happy ending. Nothing special, but good for readers who like princesses. Larger text and illustrations support the reader.

[Kris Paquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This chapter book has wonderful text graphics that will pull the reader into the story. It features a great science-based topic and interesting DIVERSE characters. A charming read for emerging readers, and a book that my lower-level fifth graders will find fun as they begin to blossom into chapter books and gain confidence. I love that the main character is smart, fun, and the book is appealing for older readers as well. Can't wait to add book two to my classroom library.

[Suzanne Marble · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter is an avid reader and every night she reads me chapters from her book of choice. This was a hit in our house as I enjoyed listening to the story as much as she enjoyed reading it. I have since bought the next 2 for her to read. It teaches about being yourself and you being able to do anything you set your mind to. It also teaches that it is okay to be different. My daughter is 6 and doesnt quite grasp all the words but most of them are simple enough. Would recommend.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suoer cute read, adorable and magical story. Lina is a princess living in the clouds!!! And has a adorable puppy!! She is a windstormer and her family has magical powers to except her dad who is human. She wants to go to groundling school with her best friend Claudia. Sweet scenes, but her magic goes a little whacky. She practices her magic with her grandfather. At last she discovers her true powers, she is a winterheart and has ice magic!!

[Deb McNally · Rating 5 out of 5]

When your granddaughter hands you a chapter book about a magical princess you can’t just stop a couple pages into it!

An adorable story about an ice princess that seems to be having some issues with her powers and really wants to do what is best. She and her best friend come up with a plan. Read it to see if it’s the way things should go.

Great little read for an early reader with some help along the way.