Megan Miranda was a scientist and high school teacher before writing Fracture, her first novel. It was inspired by her fascination with scientific mysteries, especially those associated with the brain. She lives in North Carolina.
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"While writing Fracture, it quickly became clear how much a winter setting can affect a story. From Stephen King's The Shining and Misery to Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, so many books with wintry settings fall into the adventure or thriller category. A snow storm can trap people - friends or enemies - together. An icy road can alter the course of a story, or create a story on its own. So often the setting works hand-in-hand with the plot. Other times, the landscape can set the feel for the book. The winter setting can leave you feeling utterly cold - as is the case in the adventure/thriller stories - or, in some cases, it can leave you feeling surprisingly warm.
For me, the following books are defined as much by their wintry landscapes as the stories set within them. These 10 books are guaranteed to either thrill, chill, or warm up your soul on a cold day."
1. Shiver by Maggie Steifvater
This is a great example of a story where the winter setting actually feels like a character. The werewolves of Mercy Falls shift from human to wolf as winter approaches and, as the years pass, they stop shifting back. Sam fights to hold onto his humanity and remain with Grace as winter approaches. Here, the approaching winter is something to fear. It is a clock that cannot be stopped. As the temperature ticks down, the tension ticks up.
2. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
With the Klondike Gold Rush in full swing, there's a high price for sled dogs to guide men through the winter landscape. This is the timeless story of Buck, a dog who was stolen, sold, and beaten into submission in the Alaskan winter. But it is also the story of love, loyalty, and a new awakening as Buck feels the pull of both worlds: the bond between the man who saves him and the call of his roots, from the wild. This is a book that has stayed with me for nearly 20 years and will probably stay with me for another 20, at least.
3. Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
A blizzard on Christmas Eve, three hilarious stories, three different romances, each told with overlapping characters in the same setting. This collection of short stories is such a feel-good read. Though set in snow and ice, this is nonetheless a book that will warm you up on a cold day.
4. The Devouring by Simon Holt
Drawn to heat and fear, the Vours can take over a body on the winter solstice, devouring its fears but leaving another being in its place. Reggie believes her younger brother has fallen victim, and the only thing more dangerous than living with a Vour is knowing he exists… By the end of this book, you won't know whether you're shivering from the fear or from the cold.
5. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
This is another book that I first read as a child and has never really left me. Miyax, or Julie, as is her given American name, is a 13-year-old Eskimo girl caught between the old and the new world. After her father is presumed dead she spends an unhappy few years with her aunt and, promised marriage at 13, she sets off on her own, journeying across the tundra of Alaska, learning to survive by interacting with wolves - her destination changing, just as she does.
6. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Narnia is a land covered in perpetual snow and ruled by the White Witch. That is, until four siblings pass through the wardrobe into Narnia, thereby fulfilling a prophecy with the potential to break her spell. With enemies petrified in ice, battles in the snow, and a thawing landscape marking their victory, this was the ultimate fantasy novel for me as a child.
7. Need by Carrie Jones
Zara collects phobias, which doesn't help her psyche much when she discovers she's being stalked by someone - or something - after she's sent to live with her grandmother in cold, snowy Maine. Kids start disappearing, an evil pixie king is after her, and the friends and family around her may be something other than human as well. This series (followed by Entice and Captivate) has plenty of romance, thrills, wit, and chills.
8. Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
This novel in verse begins in the fall and quickly transitions to winter with a brutal snowstorm. Alice is stranded in a car with her stepmother and infant half-sister for days with very little food and even less warmth. The wintry landscape here is alternately terrifying and beautiful, as Alice and her stepmother look for a way out, and find much more. This is a touching story of loss and hope, and one I won't soon forget.
9. As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway
Anna is complicated: she speaks in riddle, or in code, or with quotes. Anna's boyfriend, however, believes he is the opposite of complicated. "As simple as snow", he says, as the snow piles up around them. But there's nothing simple about the snow, or what Anna had been telling him. Especially when she disappears one day, leaving behind nothing but a hole in the frozen river they used to meet at…and clues for the nameless narrator to follow.
10. Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler
This book feels cold. Dusty receives a seemingly random phone call from a boy who claims to be dying. But when she follows his footsteps outside her house, they eventually disappear. Who, or what, is that boy? And what does he know about the disappearance of her brother years earlier? Her search for the stranger is tied to the search for the truth about her brother. The landscape is chilling, the nameless boy unsettling and elusive—just like the truth about her brother. The story itself feels much like the details of the setting: like footprints disappearing, covered by layer after layer of snow.
