Diary of an ice princess: Snow place like home by Christina Soontornvat

Earlier in 2019 I changed the organization of our juvenile series (paperbacks), with input from one of my associates, to labeled tubs instead of labeled shelves. This means that I can add to the collection throughout the year instead of once a year when I weed and update the collection. I am planning a post analyzing the mix of my beginning chapter books, in both level and subject, and identifying gaps but meanwhile I'm adding whatever looks good. Sometimes, "good" means "what the kids will check out.

In other words, this series made me gag a little but it absolutely will be popular.

Princess Lina is a windtamer just like her mother, her ancient and powerful grandfather, the North Wind, and many other members of her family. Unfortunately, her powers just don't... quite work. After one disaster too many, her parents (her dad is a normal human pilot, or groundling) decide to send her to a regular human school. Lina is thrilled and excited to be with her best friend Claudia, but her out-of-control powers cause all sorts of problems. Eventually, she discovers her own powers, passes her grandfather's test, and makes up with her friend Claudia.
The book is told in diary format with illustrations. I looked at an unfinished galley, so the illustrations weren't complete but in the final book they're in two colors - pink and grey. Lina is biracial; her mother's side of the family looks South Asian, her father appears white, and her friend Claudia is black.
This is the pink and princessy type of book, full of breathless emotions, that I am really not the audience for. It's overly dramatic, trite, and the short sentences are choppy. The "issues" are quickly resolved with no real conflicts and Lina is, even for a kid in school, very unaware of anything going on with the other kids outside of how it affects her. However, this is the type of cotton candy book that lots of girls, fans of Rainbow Magic, Unicorn Princesses, Frozen, etc. will devour. At least there's some diversity included.

Verdict: This is absolutely not for me and it's certainly not of particularly high (or any) literary quality. But it's a good filler that will get kids at the series stage to love reading and keep reading until they're ready for more substantial fare. And who am I to criticize what kids read for fun? I read plenty of trashy romances and serial mysteries that are certainly of no more literary quality than this! It won't win any awards and doesn't particularly stand out, other than being a rare beginning chapter fantasy with non-white characters, but it's certainly worth adding to your collection. Hand to fans of Rescue Princesses, Disney, and similar fare.

ISBN: 9781338353938; Published July 2019 by Scholastic; Galley provided by publisher; Purchased for the library