Prisoner of ice and snow by Ruth Lauren

Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781681191317
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Who would have thought one would set out to be arrested? But that is exactly what Valor intends to do. Tyur'ma is a prison for criminal children and no one has escaped from this frozen facility in over 300 years. But Sasha, Valor's sister finds herself sent there accused of a crime she did not commit - or did she? When Valor is arrested, and sent to Tyur'ma, she begins plotting an escape route from the inside. She used all resources that she can find and outsmarted both the guards and other nosey fellow prisoners. In order for the plan to be successful, alliances must be formed between unlikely allies.
This is a fast-paced fantasy novel that hooked me in from the beginning to end. Although it is a fiction book I did find myself thinking at times that parts of it could have been true. Valor was a strong leading protagonist who grew and rose to all the challenges that were presented to her. Themes such as bravery, friendship, perseverance and determination are running strongly throughout the book. Interestingly all the main characters in the book are strong female characters whether they be good or bad!
I would recommend this book for children over 10 years as some of the action in the book can be a little confronting. I would strongly recommend this book to be added to a library collection.
Kathryn Schumacher