November 2009, Usborne
240 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Children's, 8 years +
Boarding school, skiing, ice skating, ambitious individuals, disappointment, accidents, high expectations, humour, tissues needed,
Summary from Usborne
Frankie’s thrilled when she’s chosen to skate with Paul in a high-profile competition. He’s a good friend and brilliant on the ice. But Paul wants to skate alone. He wants to keep the spotlight – and the chance to win gold – to himself. It’s a real problem when they’re meant to be competing in Perfect Pairs. Together!
Nayuleska's thoughts
I confess to reading this book out of order, just because I received it after reading the others. I had been really curious to find out what happened, because in later books Frankie mentions about the Perfect Pairs competition. All I can say is wow, what an attitude! Not Frankie. It's not her fault she hurts herself - not really. I know that Madame was strict on her, but she didn't realise how difficult skiing was and didn't want Scarlett to win any more points than necessary.
As for Paul...I spent most of the novel wanting to give him a good shake, bash his head against a wall (I promise I'm a non-violent person) and get some sense into him. Ambition for Paul doesn't have a capital letter - all the letters are in capitals. He such a...well...difficult person. He has totally lost the spirit of ice skating, the love and the passion which come from the heart and mean that no matter how you do, you still love it and that love transfers to how you skate. He's a moron! An idiot. He's so mean to Frankie. She deserves better. As for the instigator of Paul's crazy ideas - that provided an entertaining story twist, although most of the time I wanted to push that character off a cliff.
Just as with the other books, Frankie's friendships with the other students develops, she learns a few more things about Madame, and continues to be a great skater.
Final conclusion
A real heart-wrenching installment in Frankie's ice skating career, one which will have you wanting to bash one character on the head (or maybe that's just me....) I give this book 10/10!
Make sure you check out Kay Woodward's website, with all the information about her books.
Suggested reads:
If you can read the books in order, which start with Skate School 1: Ice Princess.
Continues with Skate School 3: Stars On Ice
and finishes with Skate School 4: Going for Gold
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