Everyone knows about the evil Captain Whitehead and his ship the Snow Raven. They kidnap children and take them to Whitehead's island to work in his diamond mine. On the island of Bluesay, Mikki and Siri are out searching for snowberries. Siri sends Mikki off by herself to hunt and she is snatched by the pirated. Siri wants to go after her, but no one from the village will help. She decides that she will go alone. She leaves her father sleeping and sneaks onto the last ship leaving for Segelen. Her journey is full of danger and magic. She meets mean pirates, a merchild and his mother, a bogle bird and white wolves. She gets captured and ends up working in the mines with her sister and other children. Along the way she discovers how mean and evil humans can be. She also discovers that there is more to Captain Whitehead that the stories she has heard.

This is a story of adventure, hope, determination, cruelty and courage. This is a great story for older readers (grade 5 and up) as they read about the cruelty humans can be capable of to animals and each other. The other thing to discuss is when someone perpetrates evil, but tries to justify it. Siri is brave, loyal, willing to make sacrifices, smart, persevering and has an amazing respect of all life. She remains optimistic even with all the cruelty and harshness of the world that she had to face. The story was well written with a great story, but it was a bit long. I recommend this book for school and class libraries. I think it would make a great read aloud for a middle grades classroom with a lot of themes for discussion.

Nilsson's Ice Sea Pirates is an utterly enchanting adventure story about a young girl, Siri, who must try to rescue her younger sister who was captured by the pirate Whitebeard. The legend says he kidnaps children and forces them to work in his mind digging for diamonds. Siri is irresistible--bold, brave, genuine, and gentle. It is easy to fall in love with her. Nilsson weaves a stark world of ice and snow that leaves the reader breathless at times. Black and white impressionistic illustrations drive this feeling home. Well worth a read. I couldn't put it down.

Not for the faint of heart but an engrossing older children’s read is Ice Sea Pirates by Frida Nillsson. Bravery, respect for life, sacrifice and family loyalty are at the heart of this survival story. Siri faces expected and unexpected difficulties as she navigates through the harsh frozen environment to save her sister, Miki. As this spunky, smart girl faces the threat of danger and death at every turn it is an edge of the seat read with more than one twists in the telling.

As an educator, I liked this book, I liked it a lot. The writing is clear and pretty straight forward. The level is around the average fourth grader but many third graders could read it just fine. Though I would recommend Ice Sea Pirates for fifth graders and up; not for reading ability but for the content. Evil that doesn’t recognize it is evil; this is a callous, cruel world for Siri.

I loved the setting and the characters-- a really enjoyable story from start to finish