Ice Angel
Zack and Clovis are obsessed with the strange and unexplained disappearance of their father, Balthazar. Every night he used to drive his van, the Ice Angel, from the family’s secret mountain home into Rockscar City to sell flavoured ices to the rich and dispense free, clean drinking water to the poor. But that was before the night the Ice Angel was found on the mountain road, mysteriously abandoned, and Balthazar never seen again …
Now, many years later, Zack and Clovis revive the Ice Angel and plan to carry on their dad’s legacy, using the family’s secret spring and old recipe book to create the most mouth-watering ices imaginable: crushed vanilla with ginger crystals, coffee and bitter chocolate with frozen crystallized orange spoons, and cherry and cream vanilla bombes. But great danger looms – Scarspring Water Company, headed by the ruthless Anshelm Scarspring, punishes anyone dispensing water. Is there a link with the mystery of their dad’s disappearance? And what of Anshelm’s obsession with the great wilderness beyond the city, with legends of troll who inhabit it, and with secret maps…
Then drought hits Rockscar City: water supplies are polluted and dry up. Protests and riots brew against the Scarspring Water Company. And everything Zack and Clovis believed about their father and mother begins to unravel …
Now, many years later, Zack and Clovis revive the Ice Angel and plan to carry on their dad’s legacy, using the family’s secret spring and old recipe book to create the most mouth-watering ices imaginable: crushed vanilla with ginger crystals, coffee and bitter chocolate with frozen crystallized orange spoons, and cherry and cream vanilla bombes. But great danger looms – Scarspring Water Company, headed by the ruthless Anshelm Scarspring, punishes anyone dispensing water. Is there a link with the mystery of their dad’s disappearance? And what of Anshelm’s obsession with the great wilderness beyond the city, with legends of troll who inhabit it, and with secret maps…
Then drought hits Rockscar City: water supplies are polluted and dry up. Protests and riots brew against the Scarspring Water Company. And everything Zack and Clovis believed about their father and mother begins to unravel …
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Reviews
PRAISE FOR OTTO:
'A mixture of humour and extravagant action, this attractive fantasy is accessible to quite young readers simply as an adventure story ... a very thoughtful book, and underlying its invention and suspense are other layers of meaning.'
A good read for 12 to 14-year-olds ... something fun but a little diferent
Haptie creates an extravagant, colourful world ... quite possibly the best book you'll read this year
One of the best books you'll read this year.
'I really enjoyed it. The style is different and the story certainly made me smile.'
'Laugh-out-loud humour, heart-wrenching drama and edge-of-your-seat thrills abound in this truly splendind book ... It is quite possibly one of the best books you'll read this year.'
A sophisticated, elliptical fantasy that does not read like anything you have come across before. It will reward youngsters ... with its magic, warmth and excitement.
thrilling and wondrous
The fantasy world is richly imagined and the story moves between comedy and drama with a light touch ... a very compelling read.
A good read for 12 to 14-year-olds who are looking for something fun but a little different.
Haptie has taken a serious theme ... which gives this quirky debut a serious and valid undercurrent.
Charming and highly readable . . . eccentric and individual.
... a whimsical adventure full of colours, magic and sparks, it really is a child's parable about serious issues of suffering . . . every page touches a reader's sense of wonder. . . . one's heartstrings are pulled, and you long to visit them again and again.