“The weather is changing, and centuries of knowledge cannot keep up. The bonds which connect people and nature are beginning to fray. Something precious beyond imagining, is coming apart.”
Melt by Ele Fountain is a wonderful adventure story told by two protagonists from different worlds. This is a story with a huge heart and an urgent message for us all. This is a fast paced adventure story with a mystery to be solved. It is a brilliant read and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I know that my oldest two children will too.
Yutu lives in a remote, Arctic village with his elderly grandmother. Their traditional way of life is threatened by the changing snow and ice, which melts faster every year. Yutu has already lost his parents.
Bea is struggling to settle at a new school. She moves around a lot because of her father’s work. Her father is always busy but recently he has started to behave differently, secretive. One day her father has to go away for work to the Arctic and he invites Bea to go with him. He and Bea fly together to the Arctic but something goes wrong and Bea has to escape alone, and the only way to do that is for her to fly the plane.
She manages to escape but crash lands in the wilds of the Arctic close to a hut where she finds a boy suffering with hypothermia. She saves his life and he in turn saves hers.
Together Yutu and Bea become locked in a desperate race for survival. Despite their different backgrounds they find themselves with only each for support and survival. The pair grow close and learn a lot about one another as they fight to survive in the Arctic tundra and find their way home. As the story unfolds we learn more about the characters and about the effects of climate change particularly on life for Yutu and his family.
When the pair reach Yutu’s village there is trouble for Bea and her father who is still missing. Bea needs to get home and Yutu agrees to help her with the blessing of his Grandmother who likes Bea very much and wants to help. I loved Yutu’s Grandmother and the kindness she shows Bea. I imagine that Bea and Yutu will be friends long after the pages of this book and that relationship will please Grandmother very much.
This is a fast paced adventure story that has some incredibly tender moments punctuating the fast paced thrill of the race against time on the melting ice. The writing is exquisite particularly the beautiful descriptions of the frozen landscape, the intrigue of the unsolved mystery weaved throughout the gentle growing friendship between Yutu and Bea. This book has a bit of everything and I could not stop reading it.
This is a story with a huge heart and an urgent message for us all.
“… the bonds which connect people and nature are beginning to fray. Something precious beyond imagining, is coming apart. But it’s not too late to change that. Not yet.”