How far would you go to save a friend? Johanna has journeyed for a year and a day to find her friend Karl, who was taken by the Mother of the Snows. Her acts of kindness bring her help and more knowledge about her enemy, who is also called the Queen of Winter or the Maiden of Ice. Maiden, Mother, or Queen, Johanna is determined to defeat her, and bring Karl home in time for Christmas. But first she must battle against her own fears and uncertainties, win through the Mother's tricks and traps, and conquer the final hurdle of an opponent she never expected...

The eighth entry in the Holidays with Anne series is a cheerful Christmastime retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", combined with the Grimm Brothers' "Mother Holle" and a similar tale from Scandinavia called "The Two Stepsisters".