A bold and authentic reimagining of The Winter’s Tale full of tragedy, triumph, and an unforgettable voice.
Pia and her brother, Max, live on an isolated farm in rural Maine, and it’s the only life they remember. Their father says the only way for them to stay protected is to stay on the farm. Pia doesn’t question it. Pia’s entire world turns upside down when her father breaks his leg, and she must be the one to venture into town to make farm deliveries. And then she sees him. Felix, a boy who is both a stranger and somehow familiar, makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself, her past, and her family. But no matter how she feels about Felix, she must always obey her father, above all else.
But Pia’s feelings are too big to ignore, and the more she engages with Felix, the more she begins to see that there’s promise for her beyond the isolated world to which she’s grown accustomed. And the more she dreams about a better life, the more she wonders if her father is telling the truth about their family’s past. Pia knows her father and his friend Anthony are hiding something, and soon Pia must reckon with the damage her father is doing to their community and the damage he has done to their own lives.
Winter White is an astonishingly told and searingly authentic reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Kathleen Glasgow, and Sarah Dessen.
WINTER WHITE Discussion Guide
Download a copy of the Winter White discussion guide, which can be used in classroom, library, or book club settings.
Praise for WINTER WHITE
“A brilliant, blistering reimagining of Shakespeare, Pia’s voice hooked me from the first page, and her toughness and yearning pulled my heart through to the last. Annie Cardi has crafted a story that is as gripping as it is gorgeous.” —Jared Reck, award-winning author of A Short History of the Girl Next Door.
“This riveting coming-of-age tale is not just a story about a girl who meets a boy or a girl who disobeys: it’s a story about a girl who learns that real love–of all kinds–is the thing that saves you, and never the thing that imprisons you.” — Madeline Claire Franklin, author of The Wilderness of Girls, a William C. Morris Award Finalist
“Annie Cardi’s Winter White is as gorgeous as freshly fallen snow, and Cardi’s storytelling blankets a bleak world with a dusting of beauty and magic. Much as she did with Red, Cardi approaches difficult subject matters – this time, domestic violence, and the opioid crisis – with such tenderness, sensitivity and deep humanity. And Winter White’s Pia is an inspiring, quietly-steadfast heroine, forging ahead through life’s storms and never losing sight of her true north. A love letter to the liberation found in libraries, the impact of daily acts of kindness, and the belief that we all deserve a warm refuge away from the cold.” —Kim DeRose, author of Hear Her Howl
“Read this as a take on Shakespeare’s romance or as a coming-of-age story in its own right—but by all means, read it.”—Kirkus Reviews
“This adaptation of The Winter’s Tale is one that will keep readers turning pages.”—School Library Journal
“Pia’s a sympathetic confluence of contradictions, her robust sense of self-preservation warring with her hunger for connection, independence, and room for her mind to grow.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books