In 2205, the world is in the grip of another Ice Age, the end result of a chain of environmental reactions to humankind's activities. The North is snowbound, impoverished and starved; the border between it and the South is heavily guarded.

And somehow, Chandra has to cross that border, illegally and without papers, and make her way through a green land she's never seen. She's prepared to fight for her life, with her bare hands and feet - tiger leaping, snake on rock. But she'll have to trust for her life, too, bartering for everything she needs, depending on the kindness of strangers.

For the stakes are high, and get higher the farther Chandra goes. What begins as a search for her missing mother becomes a race against a deadly virus. What begins as Chandra refusing to give in to her own dark side becomes Chandra fighting for the lives of everything and everyone she loves....