Melt by Ele Fountain

Firstly if you visit or work in a school library where they use genre labels or genre as a way to shelve their fiction titles then I have no idea where you will find Melt. It is a survival story; it is a thriller; there are themes of global warming; it is also about forming new friendships; and I guess this book could also have a label of crime fiction.

Bea's father is a geologist. He works for various petroleum companies looking for, and reporting on, sites with oil reserves around the world. The problem is some of the places on our planet should not be exploited - they should be left as pristine environments but oil companies are driven by profit and not environmental concerns. So in part this book raises the issues surrounding exploitation of the Arctic circle which is home to the Inuit people. 

Bea and her family have moved to yet another new town because her father's work takes them around the world. This means Bea has to navigate yet another school and sadly in this one there are some vicious bullies. Luckily her father announces he needs to fly north in a small company plane to get an over view of the Arctic landscape and Bea will be allowed to go too. Her father has been teaching her how to fly but the pair are keeping this information a secret from Bea's mother. The first flight goes well but over the following weeks Bea senses something is wrong with her dad. He seems distracted and distant. Finally he announces they can fly north again but this time something goes horribly wrong. When they arrive at the remote and tiny Northern airport, Bea watches in horror as her father is beaten up by two men. She races back to the small plane and flies away.

Meanwhile Yutu lives with his grandmother in a small isolated Arctic village. Yutu longs to test his own independence and head away hunting on his own. He convinces a friend to loan his snowmobile, he tells his grandmother he will stay the night with a friend and then he sets off. On his second day the weather turns nasty, the snowmobile crashes and Yutu's life is hanging in the balance.

The scene is set for Bea and Yutu to meet, to help each other, and to solve the mystery of the kidnapping of Bea's father and importantly to discover the way all of this is connected to oil exploration in the arctic. 

I enjoyed the use of alternating voices in the early chapters of this book. I also enjoyed learning more about customs and food of the Inuit people especially through Yutu's gentle grandmother. 

The environmental message never overwhelms but simply runs through the plot and ensures that the adventure itself has greater impact. It is an exciting read with some perilous moments that will keep young readers gripped. A Library Lady

Here is a review by a reader aged 11 and here is a review with more plot details. Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy of Melt. Here is the web site for Ele Fountain.

Publisher blurb: A boy lives in a remote, snow-bound village with his elderly grandmother. Their traditional way of life is threatened by the changing snow and ice: it melts faster every year. When the sea-ice collapses while he is out hunting, he only just escapes with his life and is left stranded in the Arctic tundra. Meanwhile a girl is trying to adapt to another new school. Her father promises his new job at an oil company will mean they never have to move again, but not long after he starts, his behaviour becomes odd and secretive. When their fates take a drastic turn the girl’s world collides with the boy’s and they find themselves together in a desperate search for survival, and for the truth.

Companion reads:

The Last Bear

Swimming Against the Storm