J A Bowler

Ice Cooper and the Depton Shadelings J A Bowler

This is a contemporary, supernatural, environmental thriller for 9-13 yrs. As if starting a new school in a new town wasn't enough, now Ice has seen the strange creatures from her dreams. And where is her mother? And then there are the floods and the earthquakes. Ice always seems to know when people are lying and some of them are those closest to her. What has it all to do with the fracking company her father works for?




The central character, Ice, 13, is newly arrived with her little brother, her father, and their dog, Buddy, in Depton, a small Midlands town. Ice is a compassionate, but socially awkward young girl. She prefers the company of animals mostly because she knows when people are not being honest. When Ice sees a strange, dark creature on the clock tower, she thinks it is a recurrence of those from her childhood dreams. Soon the creatures are everywhere but only visible to Ice, until she meets Nathan, an odd young boy she rescues from bullies, who can also see the 'shadelings'. The story unfolds against a backdrop of unrelenting rain and floods, hinting at a changed climate. In addition, their immediate environment seems to be responding to the activities of the shale-gas company where her father works. Ice has to face challenges in her family life and with her friends and ultimately with the natural world. Through floods and earthquakes, Ice learns truths about the shadelings, the people in her life and herself.