Frozen Hearts

European Fairytales Retold

By: Cara Ruegg

Narrated by: Brittney Lynn

Dark magic is at work.

A strange sickness plagues the land.

Aksel must learn to control his powers before they control him.

Twelve-year-old Aksel doesn’t want to be different, he doesn’t want fingers that glow with ice, doesn’t want powers that freeze whatever he touches. He’s terrified of being found out, or worse—hurting someone with powers he can’t control.

But when a strange illness overtakes his town and claims those he loves, Aksel has to face more than just coming to terms with his strange abilities. With the help of his younger sister, Cathrine, and some unexpected friends, he must journey to the tip of the mountain and go find The Snow Queen who is believed to be responsible for the curse.

A retelling of THE SNOW QUEEN by Hans Christian Andersen. A story of redemption and love. Fans of the Wingfeather saga and Narnia will love this Christian Fantasy.

©2023 Cara Ruegg (P)2023 Cara Ruegg

Imaginative retelling of the Snow Queen with Christian overtones

I enjoyed listening with my middle school kids, they were eager to finish this one. I liked the spiritual content, sibling and familial relationships and the Danish culture setting. Some transitions and new character introductions a little later in the book felt clunky, but nothing that stoped the flow of the story. I enjoyed this fairytale retelling, I will look forward to more from Cara Ruegg.

An enthralling take on the Snow Queen

My 7.5 and almost 6 year old daughters loved this story! They loved Axel but especially his sister Catrine. In the end they were in love the snow queen. They were afraid for the sick people in the town. They loved the descriptions of the snowy environment. “It’s like Christmas!” The narrator did a fantastic job and my children said her voice is pretty. They were happy with the ending but a little sad for Zabina. I had to explain a few things to them in the midst of the story, but they are young. They will likely enjoy it again when they are a few years older. It was the perfect length to listen to in the car over 2 or 3 days.
Cara Ruegg writes beautifully and I will forever love her style of description and storytelling. I enjoyed the story and appreciated that it has Christian elements without being too much. It was just naturally part of the story.
My children now have a source of imagination for their play. Already, several times they’ve played that one in the snow queen, another Catrine, and my son being the hobgoblin. They are happy to play with their new found characters while they await Cara’s next fairytale retelling.