The Sugar Mountain Snow Ball

Cheerful Ruby and her shy friend Eleanor couldn’t be more different. Ruby has lived her whole life in Paris, New Hampshire. Eleanor’s family is from Sri Lanka. But these best friends share one thing: they both have impossible dreams.

Ruby and Eleanor live in the quaint town of Paris, New Hampshire, located at the base of Sugar Mountain, an exclusive ski resort in the White Mountains. Every winter, Paris comes alive with "Outers," wealthy families from out of town who own ski condos and wear designer clothes, luxuries that Ruby and Eleanor (and most of the year-round residents of Paris) cannot afford.

One December day, Ruby and Eleanor stumble across Madame Magnifique, the "World’s Most Divine Psychic," who urges them to unlock their deepest dreams. Ruby’s has always been to mingle with Outers, and now, more than ever, she is determined to make that dream come true.

As a chain of events unfolds over the winter months, both girls find themselves on a journey of self-discovery that starts with unlikely friendships, secret crushes, and newfound skills, and snowplows to an unexpected outcome.

A relevant story in today’s world—exploring cross-cultural sensitivities and diversity within a classic New England microcosm—"The Sugar Mountain Snow Ball" questions the role of destiny and the ability we all have to achieve that which seems impossible.

Elizabeth Atkinson, an award-winning middle grade author, is best known for her tween novel, I, EMMA FREKE. While she loves living on the North Shore of Massachusetts, her real home is in the woods of western Maine where she enjoys hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, board games, kayaking, grilling, stargazing, ping-pong, snowshoeing, exploring, swimming, and lively discussions by the fire with her neighbors, friends, family, and doodle dog, Obadiah. Elizabeth visits schools all over the country, virtually and in person.