Ice Princess: 01 (Skate School) Paperback – 30 Oct. 2009

Probably not the best.

Great. Used as a 'party bag' gift for my daughters friends after her ice skating party.

Frankie has a passion for ice skating. Her family are average; loud siblings, busy parents, a stretched income and so she can never be more than an amateur. Still, she devotes every spare minute to skating at her local rink and it is there that she is talent spotted by Madame Kristiana von Berne, the director of Team GB, the British Ice Skating Winter Olympics team.Madame Kristiana spots Frankie's natural talents and whisks her away to Switzerland to begin training with the rest of the team. They are not all as friendly as Frankie hopes, especially not Scarlett and Flic, the popular, rich, and above all, star skaters of Team GB. Frankie, miles from home and feeling inadequate, puts all her effort into training and it soon begins to pay off. She is finally good enough to participate in the British Junior championships, but will she be brave enough to try a risky move that could just win her the gold medal? This is a pretty good example of its genre. Frankie is normal, very likeable, and has characteristics that shine through and make her an excellent role model. Madame Kristiana von Berne has an interesting back story that adds some much needed flesh to the bones of the main plotline. The popular girls are too typical, the normal, unfriendly high school clique, which is a failing. The book is also quite heavy on ice skating related terminology, which means for sections of the book that ought to be exciting and fast paced make absolutely no sense to the uninitiated. Having said that, overall the story is interesting and should appeal to all little girls that have big dreams.

Review by Amber.One day, while ice skating at the local ice rink, Frankie is 'talent spotted' by the one and only Madame von Berne, Coaching Director of a skate school in Switzerland. Frankie has trouble deciding whether to go or not. Stay with friends and family? Or go to a school dedicated to ice skating where she could have a fantastic time and make loads of new friends? Frankie, being a huge fan of skating, chooses the ice skating school in Switzerland.This author was new to me, since I don't think I've ever read anything by her. I definitely think I'll be buying the next in the series, On Thin Ice, because this book was brilliant - one of the best books I've ever read! My favourite character, except Frankie, was probably Alesha, as she was really nice and was the only proper friend Frankie had.I rate this book...5/5!

I just finished Skate School and I really enjoyed it. I love everything to do with ice skating and I want to be an ice princess like Frankie. I think she was really brave to leave her mum and dad but she made lots of new friends and learnt a lot about life in this book. I can't wait to read the next book to see what happens to her next.

This is a well written and exciting book. It is the story of an ordinary 14 year old girl who skates in her own time, at the local rink and who is "discovered" by the coach of "team GB". She then goes to boarding school in the Swiss Alps to study ice skating. It is not your usual boarding school girly book, the focus is on the skating but friendships and homesickness play their part too. It is a story I read outloud to my 9 year old and she loved it! It is about positive competition, ice skating, friendships, family and has a cracking ending- we have just bought the 2nd book. Five stars from mother and daughter!