Winter Longing

Gr 8—11—Winter Craig, a high school senior in Tundra, AK, finally musters the courage to confess her feelings to Spencer, her best friend and childhood crush, by inviting him to the Snow Ball. They instantly become a couple, but the very next day, Spencer is killed when he crashes his plane during a flight test. Now Winter and her friend Lindsay, who was also close to Spencer, are left to grieve for him in their own ways, which brings conflict at first, and then a deeper friendship between the girls. As Winter works through her loss, her neighbor Jesse is there for her, and now she also has to deal with her developing feelings for him, the guilt and confusion they bring, and the wrath of his mean ex. Chapters are separated by Winter's memories of Spencer, but as the plot evolves these thoughts are replaced with quotes about love taken from a Quote-a-Day calendar that he had given her. Mills's depiction of grief is real and well paced, as is the tension she builds around Winter and Jesse's budding relationship. This contemporary story packs a punch and is a suitable novel for booktalking.—Adrienne L. Strock, Maricopa County Library District, AZ