Winter White: A Modern Retelling of Shakespeare’s the Winter’s Tale

A bold and authentic reimagining of The Winter’s Tale full of tragedy, triumph, and forbidden romance--perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Kathleen Glasgow, and Sarah Dessen.

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.

Annie Cardi is the author of Red (UNSQ, 2024) and The Chance You Won’t Return (Candlewick, 2014), which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year for 2015. She has an MFA from Emerson College, and currently lives with her husband, children, and dog in the Boston area.