From the authors of the Goddess Girls series comes the fourth book in a series steeped in Norse mythology, magic, adventure, and friendship—following ambitious athlete Skade. Skade, the goddess of skiing, is known as one of the best athletes—and a top student—at Asgard Academy. But lately, she’s felt like she’s been in a slump. When three giants appear and offer to mend the rift between the worlds by organizing a ski competition, Skade feels like this is her big chance to prove herself again. After all, the powerful Odin will be choosing the Asgard team based on ability, attitude, and academics! But much to Skade’s embarrassment, Odin is less than impressed with her—and names her as an alternate instead of part of the main team. Aside from Skade’s frustrations, something seems fishy about the whole competition. After one of Skade’s classmates has a strange nightmare about it, they start to wonder if the games are one big cover-up for something more sinister. And when the Asgard team finds themselves on thin ice, it’s up to Skade to overcome a big fear, save her friend—and show everyone what she’s made of! Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated over 140 children’s books, including the Goddess Girls series, the Heroes in Training series, the New York Times bestselling picture book Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean), and Little Red Writing (illustrated by Melissa Sweet). She lives in North Carolina and is online at JoanHolub.com. Suzanne Williams is a former elementary school librarian and the author of over seventy books for children, including the award-winning picture books Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) and My Dog Never Says Please (illustrated by Tedd Arnold), and several chapter book and middle grade series. She also coauthors the Goddess Girls and Thunder Girls series with the fantastic Joan Holub. Visit her at Suzanne-Williams.com. Chapter 1: Polar Bear Boogie 1 Polar Bear Boogie IT WAS THURSDAY, AND TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Skade was in her fourth-period Norse History class at Asgard Academy. Concentrating hard, she spun herself in a tight circle, around and around on the wood plank classroom floor. Her long, thick, white-streaked black hair fanned out around her as she spun. Believe it or not, this was a history lesson. Dancing! And she and her classmates were all having a lot of fun with it. Their teacher, Mr. Sturluson, had begun a Traditions and Rituals unit this afternoon. They were learning the traditional folk dances of Norway, starting with one called the halling . They’d needed music, of course, so a boygod named Fossegrim was playing the fiddle. And another named Bragi was playing his lute, a stringed instrument with a deep, round back. To give themselves more floor space to move freely throughout the room, they’d pushed all their chairs and desks against the walls, which were slanted since the classroom was actually built to look like the inside of a big, wooden sailing ship. Between each twirl she made, Skade folded both arms across her chest and squatted low on the balls of her feet. Then she’d pop back up to begin the sequence again. Squat, stand, twirl. Squat, stand, twirl . Occasionally, she and some of the girls in class would slightly lift the hems of their hangerocks —apronlike dresses they wore over linen shifts—to ensure they wouldn’t trip over them. Whenever the fiddle music hit a loud, hard note, students in line were supposed to take turns leaping high to try to kick a black hat off the end of a pole. The other end of this pole was held by their bearded teacher Mr. Sturluson, who stood on a chair at the far side of the room. He held the pole horizontally about six feet above the floor so that its hat-covered end jutted into the middle of the room. So far, no one had managed to jump and kick high enough to knock that hat off. Skade eyed it carefully as three boygods named Balder, Ull, and Njord, who were dancing in line ahead of her, waited for their turns to try. After them, she’d be next. She breathed hard as she danced in place, squatting, standing, and twirling. As she pictured herself doing the precise moves needed to successfully dislodge the hat, her confidence rose. When it was her turn to be the one to try to kick that hat, she’d send it flying up to the rafters! Although she was a good athlete, she’d never tried dancing before. There had been dances at her old school to celebrate the changing seasons. However, she’d always skipped them in favor of going skiing—her favorite sport. Who knew dancing was such great exercise, though? And much to her surprise she had really gotten into the rhythm of the music. She’d definitely been missing out. Because she was loving the halling . And she was rocking it too! As Skade executed another twirl, she recalled the posters she’d seen around the academy the last few days promoting a school dance this weekend here at Asgard Academy. Maybe she should go. Freya, Sif, and Idun would