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Mary Casanova read about the frozen prostitute 20 years ago in a history of Koochiching County, and she couldn't get the image out of her head.

"Someone took this woman's body, put a liquor bottle in her hand and stood her up as a joke before a town meeting around 1909," recalled Casanova, who lives in Ranier, Minn., near the Canadian border.

"Who was that woman? I wanted to vindicate her, give her a voice. For a long time, I wasn't sure how to tell it; the image of her body used as a joke was so disturbing and compelling. But it wouldn't let me go. I kept working on it and leaving it, until finally it took shape in the voice of her daughter."

That daughter, Sadie Rose, is the central character in Casanova's new novel, "Frozen."

This is the first young-adult novel from Casanova, 55, an award-winning author who's done 30 picture books, kids books and chapter books for middle school readers.

"Frozen" is also Casanova's first book with a regional publisher, University of Minnesota Press, and UMP's first original youngadult fiction.

Rich in historical details and descriptions of the area around Rainy Lake, the story begins in 1920 with 16-year-old Sadie Rose unwilling to speak. Sadie was taken in by a politician and his wife when she was found almost frozen in a snowbank after following a man who was carrying her mother's body from the hotel/brothel where they lived.

When Sadie discovers some provocative old pictures of her mother, her speech returns

Casanova said she "didn't want to compete" in the world of paranormal novels currently hot with young adults, and that's just fine with Todd Orjala, senior acquisitions editor for University of Minnesota Press.

"We are going against the tide, since this book is not about vampires or mermaids," Orjala said. "But it is an edgy book. The protagonist is raised in a brothel, confronted by difficult circumstances. It's very realistic."

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University of Minnesota Press, author Mary Casanova partner on 'Frozen,' new YA fiction