The Frost Fair (The Miraculous Sweetmakers #1)

A mournful blend of historical fiction and frigid fantasy characterizes Hastings’s debut, set in late-17th-century London. Blaming herself for the incident that killed her asthmatic twin Arthur four years earlier, Thomasina Burgess all but runs her family’s sweets shop, testing out inventive recipes while her father avoids her and her grief-stricken mother remains in bed. After the Thames freezes over and city vendors, including the sweets shop, set up a Frost Fair on its icy surface, a will-o’-the-wisp lures the lonely 13-year-old to mysterious, “blue-tinged” Inigo, who offers to bring her brother back to life if she agrees to terms: give up her memories of Arthur, and accompany Inigo four times to the Other Frost Fair, “created from magic and sea smoke.” As her memories of Arthur begin to fade and she encounters the alternate fair, populated by people made of ice and ruled over by sinister Father Winter, Thomasina begins noticing snowflake marks on her skin, and wonders about the bargain’s stakes. Though magic-related worldbuilding can slow the book’s pace, crystalline prose deftly conjures the protagonist’s guilt-laden internality alongside historical topics, including views on, and treatment of, mental health. Most characters cue as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Chloe Seager, Madeleine Milburn. (Nov.)