Disney Frozen Polar Nights: Cast Into Darkness

by Jen Calonita

Overview

Anna, Queen of Arendelle, has been tirelessly preparing for the Polar Night’s Celebration that is held every year to welcome the time when the sun doesn’t rise in the Polar Circle. She has been working so hard, her fiancé Kristoff suggests she take a night off to visit her sister Elsa, the Snow Queen. Anna loves the idea. Accompanied by Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, Anna reunites with Elsa in the Enchanted Forest.

After telling spooky stories around the campfire, Olaf swears that one of the creatures of their tales has come to life! Who else is responsible for the sudden onset of storms and the earlier than normal darkening of the skies? Why else is everyone starting to become so forgetful?

Anna and Elsa join forces to determine what is going on. Together they recall Kristoff’s terrifying tale about a princess who turned into a draugr—an undead creature that steals memories in an effort to make others forget the misdeeds it committed when it was alive. Is it possible that Kristoff inadvertently unearthed memories of a draugr, and thus unleashed the monster upon Arendelle? Anna and Elsa must uncover the real story behind the tale before everyone in Arendelle forgets who they are and is cast into darkness forever….

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368076647
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/19/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	115,911
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jen Calonita and Mari Mancusi met where the north wind meets the sea—in other words, at the North Texas Teen Book Festival—and instantly bonded over their mutual love of all things Disney and Frozen. A self-professed Elsa, Mari loves all things frozen—especially snowboarding and ice cream. Jen, who is 100 percent Anna, confesses that she took up running solely so she could run in costume at runDisney races. When Mari and Jen are not finishing each other’s sandwiches, Mari can be found in Austin, Texas, with her husband, her dance-loving daughter, and their two dogs, Minnie and Mesquite. An Emmy Award–winning former TV news producer, she’s written more than thirty books for kids, teens, and adults, including the Agnarr and Iduna origin story, Dangerous Secrets. New York Times best-selling author Jen Calonita lives with her husband, two boys, and a chihuahua named Ben Kenobi in New York, where she writes books for kids and teens, including several Twisted Tale novels like Conceal, Don’t Feel.
They both like warm hugs.

You can find them online at www.marimancusi.com and www.jencalonitaonline.com.

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2022

Gr 4–7—Calling all Frozen fans who want not only the snow, but a chill down their spines. This original story by Calonita, who penned a previous "Frozen Twisted Tale," follows Anna and Elsa after the events of the two movies. The sisters have been busy with their post—Frozen 2 lives: Anna as the new Queen of Arendelle and Elsa as the Snow Queen in the Enchanted Forest. They decide to make time for each other in their busy lives by getting together at a campfire. Over toasting marshmallows, Kristoff tells a spooky story of another pair of long-ago sisters, one of whom died at the hands of the other and has become a draugr—a terrifying creature from folklore, bringing bad weather while seeking revenge. After the story, Anna and Elsa return to their daily lives, but something is amiss. The weather has turned dark and stormy, and many Arendelle citizens seem to have grown forgetful, including Anna's beloved Kristoff! Could the draugr be real? Anna and Elsa must face the monster and solve the mysteries of the past in order to save the kingdom they love. Readers who like simple, familiarly plotted stories and loved the movies will gobble up this return to Arendelle, but younger readers should be warned that the ghost in this story can provide a few scares, as could the descriptions of decaying hands, ghastly red eyes, and bumps in the night. VERDICT A spooky, simple, nostalgic story for readers who loved Frozen; an additional purchase where there are plenty of "Twisted Tale" fans, particularly older ones.—Evelyn Khoo Schwartz

School Library Journal

2022-04-27
Arendelle’s winter solstice celebration is threatened when a fearsome draugr is awakened in this return to the world of Disney’s Frozen.

Determined to get everything right, Queen Anna is stressed about planning Arendelle’s Polar Nights festival, which will not only celebrate the winter solstice, but also her sister Elsa’s birthday. On a camping trip meant to get her mind off things for a bit, she, her fiance, Kristoff; his reindeer, Sven; Elsa; and snowman Olaf tell scary stories around the campfire. Kristoff tells the story of sisters Sissel and Inger and how Sissel, neighboring Vesterland’s future queen, was killed by Inger out of jealousy. It is told that Sissel became a draugr, a reanimated corpse that causes terrible storms when seeking revenge. Following the tale, a storm hits the campers, and when they return to Arendelle, Anna, Kristoff, and the townspeople’s memories are starting to fade, jeopardizing the festival plans. Drawing on Norse mythology, the draugr is fairly scary, making this novel veer at times into fantastical horror, but this element is generally tempered quickly with levity. Written with fans of the movies in mind, little worldbuilding is done, with the focus instead on the beloved, charismatic characters and their repartee as well as the sisterly ties. All characters are presumed White.

Movie fans will love this next adventure. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews