Thought-provoking climate crisis adventure set in Svalbard in the near future.

Climate damaging behaviours are now strictly limited. Mining of the earth's resources is controlled by committee. Very few flights are allowed and only for special reasons.

Rory has been given permission to fly with her mum to Svalbard for a few weeks while she works on a report for a mining company seeking to extract resources for use in technology such as mobile phones.

She is looking forward to seeing snow as she has only experienced it once in her life but she was very little and doesn't remember it now. She is surprised to find that there is only a light dusting of snow. Nothing like they'd expected. And even more surprisingly, the supposedly deserted former mining town is home to a number of families and their children. They were supposed to leave when the mine closed but instead they stayed and have been living an off the grid existence.

Already, it starts to become clear that the mining company have not been forthcoming with the truth and her mother is met with hostility from the locals who oppose further mining.

Even more alarmingly, it seems that the mining company may be trying to cover up the effect their mining is already having on the reindeer in the area.

Rory feels compelled to uncover the truth and obtain evidence, but it is easy to forget this is a dangerous place which can quickly succumb to violent snow storms and polar bears are a constant threat.

Brilliant and thought-provoking, Penfold creates yet again a middle-grade full of life and hope. She writes children with such passionate personalities who are such a joy to follow. Strong, brave individuals with so much compassion and sympathy for others. Rory’s love for animals was fantastic to read, and it was great seeing her relationships forming with the other children. Also Kaiku!? What a cutie😭

I absolutely loved the setting for this one and felt like I could really imagine how it looks, and what society is like here. It was interesting to learn a little about Sami culture too.

Penfold delivers strong messages on the environment in such a careful way as always and I love this central theme throughout all of her books. Despite the story sometimes taking sad turns, there is still hope that transcends to our world today, inspiring the reader to read into the topic of environmental crises more and take action.

A pleasure to read as always 💓

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Nicola Penfold for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond the Frozen Horizon is a book that makes us look beyond our own needs and think about our carbon footprint and impact on the world through one of the characters. It's a powerful read for a children's book whilst not being too alarming to scare. Young readers will learn a lot.

This is such an amazing and wonderful book. A beautifully told story about the Arctic wilderness and how we need to protect and save our world for future generations of humans and animals to live in.

A lovely eco-fiction title that explores the shrinking icecaps, species death and non-living climates in cities.
At the heart of this story is adventure and tension. Penfold creates a suspense driven story where her main characters fight prejudice and traditional expectations. She looks at corporate greed and the duplicity of green-washing as it impacts on the scientists and activists who can get caught up in it - whether intentionally or through lies.
At another level the story is about a little girl who loves the environment and both her parents. But after a somewhat acrimonious split she feels that she needs to choose.
A lovely story that is engaging and exciting.
Strongly recommended for upper KS2 and lower KS3.

If I was ever given a prompt that had the words younger readers, horror/thriller, adventure and a dash of mystery thrown into life-threatening situations, I would be hard-pressed to come up with an appropriate storyline. This book is a combination of all of them.
When I started the book, I was unsure what I expected. We have Rory, who is tagging along with her mother on an Arctic expedition to Svalbard (I had never heard of this place until last year and since have been seeing it on such a regular basis). The latter is a geologist who has been hired by a company who have devised an eco-friendly way of generating energy in the Arctic and needs her expertise to confirm that it is a viable project.
Rory's a vegetarian and a child of the 'enemy' once she gets to the site, both of which do not help her in her new situation. The locals who have lived in the area, in a sort of makeshift arrangement, are connected to the mine that was closed. They dislike the company that seems to be dodging true questions about its purpose in the area.
There are natives who know to live off the land in some ways, and the children have taken their parents' fear and dislike and made it their own.
Rory is a good girl. She believes in her mother and thinks that they mean to achieve something good at the end of the day.
The lonely child tries to reach out, fears she is haunted and is also sure there are details her mother ought to know about the situation in the location.
The pacing is not the usual one for an adventure, and the darkness that starts to seep into the story helps build the suspense. The combination of factors makes this a unique book. I would highly recommend this to the more adventurous junior reader, and even adults can enjoy the depth of the book. I would love to read another book by the author.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I enjoyed this tale, mainly because of the characters involved. Rory was a lonely little girl, dealing with her parent's separation and longing for a sense of involvement. She thinks going with her mother on a journey to the Arctic for geological research will be a fun adventure for the two of them but as soon as they arrive, her mother is busy dealing with business issues and Rory is left alone.

Because she is the daughter of one of their enemy, the local children are reluctant to befriend her and Rory spends most of her time alone or with the youngest member of the research team who is treated as little more than a tea girl and nanny. Eventually, the local children start to come around, particularly a boy named Mikkel who helps Rory understand the dangers the corporation is putting the wildlife and locals in and help her to convince her mother that she is not doing the good work she thought she was.

Although this is aimed primarily at young readers, I did enjoy this and even the supernatural elements were well written. Not too far-fetched but still mysterious enough for young readers to become enthralled by

I’m so glad I read this intensely atmospheric and tense middle grade eco-adventure.

This book is great on so many levels, packing so much depth into so few pages. On the one hand you have the incredible scene-setting, the Arctic landscape being so vividly described. Then you have the complex relationships that Rory has with her mother and father, and how this comes to affect her actions in the book.

And the world building is superb. I liked the idea of this future where humans have acted to slow climate change, but the author explores how the fallibility of the human species means we still can’t manage to get everything right.

Some of the facts in this novel led me down some Wikipedia rabbit holes, which I found super-interesting. Of particular interest was the role of whales in locking away CO2 – am I the only person that didn’t know this?! Incredible!

With thanks to @littletigerbooks for gifting me a digital copy to review.

I really loved the concept of the Wilderness Zones in this book and the heavy emphasis on protecting the Earth. I really liked the authors descriptions of the Arctic, the animals and the people who love there.
While I thought Rory's dialogue was a little corny for adults, I think it is perfect for the targeted age range.

Set in a near future when global warming has changed living conditions, Rory accompanies her scientist mum on a trip to the Arctic, where she has been drafted in at the last minute to work for a company called Greenlight. Once settled into an ancient accommodation block, where there are unexplained happenings in the night, it becomes clear that the workers and their children are not welcomed by the local children, whose families have refused to be evacuated when the original settlement was closed. With Mum busy, Rory is left to her own devices but after an incident involving a polar bear, she forms an uneasy alliance with one of the local boys. When they discover that animals are mysteriously dying, they begin to investigate.
At the heart of this novel is the contemporary problem of how to feed and fuel a world with a growing population at a time of potential environmental catastrophe, but it also highlights the way big business, however ecologically sound or well-meaning the original intention, can be sidetracked by economic and time constraints and pressure from above into ignoring and disregarding the concerns and rights of indigenous populations and those who present a conflicting point of view. Rory’s search for answers to the odd events and the evasiveness of the company’s employees drives the action, while it is the developing friendship between the children and the relationship between Rory and her mum that gives life and warmth to the characters. A thoroughly enjoyable mystery, ideal for older KS2 readers and on into secondary school.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. The book focuses on a world in the future where some of todays modern problems have been solved. We follow the main protagonist Rory whose mum is in charge of a zone protecting wildlife. If your like me and are passionate about protecting the environment and have a love of nature than this is the book for you

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Rory is a quiet but adventurous girl, who struggles to make friends at home, but who quickly finds confidence in herself, on the island.

There is so much adventure and intrigue in this fab story of a girl’s experience living in the arctic, in Svalbard, whilst her mother plays the role of geologist to a green energy company who want to extract valuable metals from the land.
The townsfolk are against the company’s plans and suspicious of the work required. Rory becomes a key player in helping the townsfolk.

Set in the near future when global climate laws have been set in place, to address the environmental crisis, which includes the protection of certain wilderness regions around the world.
The message of the story told through Rory’s experience, is about protecting those wildernesses, as they are vital resources in the fight against climate change.

Rory has joined her mother - a geologist - on a trip to Svalbard to investigate whether rare metals can be extracted without harming the environment further. The mining company have failed to consider the local inhabitants in their thinking and they are hostile to any further mining activities and do not believe the company hype.

Rory befriends a local Sami boy, Mikkal, and learns more about their way of life. Eventually she has to make a choice - whether to support her mother and the company or the local community in their desire to preserve their way of life and environment.

The author has again written a novel with a strong environmental message but coupled it with a genuine mystery. A nail bitting ending - a bonus I did not expect!

It was the setting of this novel in a future world decimated by climate change that drew me to this novel .It’s set not too far in the future and what has occurred due to climate change seems plausible
The book is mostly a naturalistic story of a journey taken by a young girl to the Arctic regions with her mother a geologist who is studying the possibility of opening up mining in the area that has been turned over to nature to protect the Enviroment .The initial sections of the story are possibly more suited to a young adult audience than general readership ,not all stories with young principal characters fall into this category but I felt this one did .The story itself is quite simple initially and was an easy read
In later sections there are some ghostly occurrences which I did not feel were as well covered .The ghost itself was not really necessary to the story I personally would rather have read more about why there were young children living in a supposedly banned area after the area was turned over to nature .We are never really given a reason or explanation
The setting of the story in a frozen world gives the story a claustrophobic atmosphere which helps the story a lot .I loved the descriptions of the place itself and the wildlife .
I prefer novels with more character development and felt this was touched on but not developed as far as it could have been
The author has an easily read prose style I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend for a teenaged readership
I read an copy on NetGalley Uk the book was published in the Uk 1September 2022 by Little Tiger group

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this brilliant book. It was an incredibly beautiful, atmospheric adventure. ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rory lives in a future world. A world in which Global Climate Laws have been introduced and World Wilderness Zones have been established in order to absorb carbon and protect wildlife. It is a world that is unfortunately not too hard to imagine.

Rory's mum gets a new job with Greenlight, a company investigating the extraction of rare earth metals in one such wilderness zone in the Arctic Circle. She works as a geologist and is carrying out an environmental assessment on the mine site. We meet Rory and her mum as they are starting their journey to the Svalbard archipelago to spend 6 weeks on the island of Pyramiden.

While Rory's mum is busy with meetings, trips and presentations, Rory explores the local area and tries to befriend the local children. She learns about the history of the area and sees the wildlife up close. After making an important discovery with one of the local children, Rory has to decide whether to protect her mum's job or do what is right for the local environment and the wildlife.

Nicole Penfold's books are always educational as well as a brilliant read - she manages to convey important ecological messages in an informative yet entertaining way. The plot was exciting, with a few twists and turns along the way.

Highly recommended for UKS2 - the book has a really important theme and is a brilliant adventure. I really enjoyed reading it - thank you NetGalley and Little Tiger for the ARC.

Set in a future dystopian world after Climate laws in 2030 were brought in with restrictions on flying for essential purposes only and any houses not able to be brought up to green standards knocked down and apartments built instead, Rory is living with her scientist Mum in an apartment during the week where she goes to a school in which she has no real friends, and at weekends she goes to her Ranger Dad’s in the forest where she can enjoy nature.
When her Mum is employed by Greenlight on the Svalbard Rare Earths Project it involves a trip to Svalbard and Rory is given permission to accompany her.
They fly and sail to Pyramiden – a former Soviet coal mining settlement where Greenlight are preparing to begin their project, still awaiting the full ok after Rory’s Mum completes her report. But they are working against the remaining local inhabitants who are antagonistic, and blame Greenlight for reindeer dying.
Children however do not have the same prejudices and Rory befriends Mikkal who can show her more of the real Svalbard.
Rory hears noises at night and is convinced that the ghosts of Ulya, a young girl killed when the former mine collapsed wants to tell her something. When she and Mikkal need help, it’s Ulya who comes to their rescue and the ultimate rescue of the environment.
The frozen north is a force to be reckoned with as the Earth wants to preserve itself – despite the efforts of humans to destroy it.
So dystopian – but still could possibly come true.

We all enjoyed this book, the older children especially who are very interested and involved in climate change issues. It has some educational aspects that are worth mentioning, but the story itself is enchanting.

I really love the concept and idea of this book. Beyond the Frozen of Horizon give glimpse world condition when we finally reach enviroment and energy global crisises at 2030. That's condition make world applies new laws to prevention and solve some problems. Our MC Rory are a quiet young girl that grew misses her old life expecially her father and best friend. She love nature so much, a quality rare we found at kids nowdays. A long journey at Artic with her mother filled with so much adventures and hope.

I instantly draws to the detail about the energy crisis at here because the author successfuly make it flesh out and relatable. The early plot is interesting but walk with slowly pace and angsty. I almost curious why Rory can't fit in at school? When the pace start going faster, the story start offer many wonders. For the young targeted readers I think this book offers many topics. Personal issues, enviroment issues, mysteries and mission, animals and supernatural additional. For me it is maybe feel too busy make it less focused, but my son so far enjoyed our reading together session with this one. So I think that's more important. Totally will recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Tiger Group, Stripes Publishing for provided the copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own.