THE STEPS ACROSS THE WATER

A little girl learns the meaning of family in this fantasy adventure loosely based on Andersen’s “Snow Queen” and set in both New York City and a parallel metropolis called U Nork. Adopted from Russia, Rose is presciently attracted to snow globes and stories about snow princesses. Her urban-kid routine is shattered on an outing to the Empire State Building, where a diminutive spy from U Nork invites her to ascend a glass stairway across the water in Central Park to find the “biggest and grandest city in the solar system.” Awed by the enormous buildings and bizarre customs, Rose discovers that U Nork is really hidden inside a snow globe and depends on her to save it from the demonic Ice Queen. With an assist from family and friends from both cities, spunky Rose faces some hard choices as she confronts the powerful Ice Queen—who just happens to be her real mother. While the highly original New York/U Nork construct proves fascinating, readers may find the overt “Snow Queen” correspondences intrusive, bewildering and misguided. (Fantasy. 8-12)