Of Giants And Ice is a book by Shelby Bach which was written in 2012. It is the first book in The Ever Afters series.
The story is about a girl named Rory Landon who is the daughter of a famous actress, her life might sound glamorous but in reality it just means moving three times a year, people trying to be friends with her for reasons that have nothing to do with her, and switching schools so many times that she's a professional new kid.
When Rory finally finds a place where no one knows, or cares about who her parents are she hardly cares that going there also means slaying dragons, duelling faeries, and other fairy tale responsibilities. Ever After School is a "after school program" for fairy tale characters in training and despite the annoying spoiled girl and the cocky guy, Chase who thinks he's good at everything (and might actually be) who play mean pranks on her, not to mention the fact that everyone keeps talking about some "prophecy" behind her back, she thinks she can be happy.
When suddenly her new best friend, Lena has to go up a bean stalk, she chooses Rory and Chase who is an a$$hole in Rory's opinion to go with Lena on her quest, Rory start questioning a lot of things. Is it right to steal from a giant even if his wife is really nice? Is Chase still an a$$hole after helping her deal with her fear of highness on the way up the bean stalk? Is she cut out for this whole "hero" thing? How do you deal with being "destined" to take down an evil snow queen when you're in 6th grade?
The series website can be found here http://shelbybach.com/books/
Of Giants And Ice contains examples of:
- Character Development:
- Rory goes from a friendless reserved kid who did her best to not be noticed by anyone and couldn't drum up the courage to tell her parents what she thought, to a seasoned badass, a respected leader, who had seen life, death, loss, and love, had a family who she cared about and was willing to protect others secrets.
- Chase starts out as a kid who acts like a know-it-all bossy self-confident prick to hide the fact that he was actually super lonely, his father was a majorly immature jerk who Chase constantly wanted to impress, and he was still dealing with his brother's death. By the end he has two best friends who he's extremely close with (even if they are both girls), he has made peace with his fey heritage, and he just kinda grew up.
- Lena who at the start of the series was a shy nerdy girl who wanted to win the science fair, but by the end she becomes a powerful magician and sorceress who had THREE tales (Jack and the Beanstalk, Girl With Gold Hands, and Rapunzel), the greatest magical inventor of all time even surpassing her ancestress, and ends up together with the guy she liked since she was 10.
- Combat and Support: Chase and Rory focus on fighting with their swords and Lena does something smart and magical, and if she can't there's always the baseball bats of destruction.
- I Thought Everyone Could Do That: When Chase starts skateboarding Rory has to gently remind him that humans can't jump 25-feet in the air off a ramp.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Rory's a quiet tomboy who often express her anger by decorating people faces with smashed cake or dislocating their jaws, Chase is a half-fairy with pink wings who has major personality issues and can lie so well it's scary, and Lena is a super nerdy magic black girl whose lab assistant is a talking harp.
- Rivals Team Up: Rory and Chase, on their first quest together they were not friendly because of a history where he taunted ridiculed and humiliated her and she, threw cake at him and made fun of him, but they decided they were even after he helped her up the bean stalk (she was terrified of heights) and she in turn comforted and distracted him while they were in a giant's bread box which was full of bones (which Chase was terrified of).
