| 9780545940603 |
| 0545940605 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... East Library | Children's Book | WHIT | Children's-J-Fiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... High Prairie Library | Children's Book | WHIT | Children's-J-Fiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Library 21c | Children's Book | WHIT | Children's-J-Fiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Kiersten White, the author of the NYT bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, is ready to make her middle grade debut!Once upon a time, a girl skipped into the forest and became a zombie.Wait, no, that's not how this story is supposed to go. Let's try again.Once upon a time, a boy did a horrible job as a sheep-sitter and burned his tongue on stolen pie.No, children in these stories are always good and virtuous. From the top.Once upon a time, a king and queen tried to find a princess for their son to marry, and he wound up fleeing from a group of very hairy vampires.Hmmm...What about, once upon a time, a bunch of fairy tales got twisted around to be completely hilarious, a tiny bit icky, and delightfully spooky scarytales... in other words, exactly what fairy tales were meant to be. Grab some flaming torches, maybe don't accept that bowl of pease porridge, and get ready for a wickedly fun ride with acclaimed author Kiersten White and fairy tales like you've never heard them before.
Author Notes
Kiersten White is an author of fantasy books including And I Darken, Now I Rise, the Paranormalcy trilogy, Mind Games, Perfect Lies, The Chaos of Stars, and Illusions of Fate. She also co-wrote In the Shadows with Jim Di Bartolo.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Best-selling YA author White makes her middle grade debut in this creepy but hilarious collection of reimagined fairy tales. Readers will be quick to recognize familiar faces like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White, but the recognition stops there. These archetypal figures, along with their stories, are subverted by macabre characterizations that see them turning into zombies, vampires, or worse. In White's nameless "scarytale" kingdom, monsters and little girls might be the same thing. Princes and princesses might be locked in towers (or coffins) for a good reason. Each story blurs the line between good and evil, such that the only true foe is misunderstanding. With clever wordplay and confused homonyms (hair/Herr; pea/pee), White makes it clear that spelling and meaning matter greatly. But staying alive matters most of all. Even when the plot is frightening, readers can rest assured that there's a joke around the corner. Short, adapted nursery rhymes separate stories and elicit chuckles. Occasional spot illustrations also provide comic relief with their cartoony, exaggerated quality. The real star of this romp, though, is the narrator. Equal parts Terry Pratchett and Lemony Snicket, the unnamed omniscient narrator relates each scarytale. Some stories are scarier (and cleverer) than others, but the consistency of tone will have readers eagerly flipping from story to story. VERDICT For larger collections. This book will circulate best where fairy-tale retellings-especially Adam Gidwitz's "A Tale Dark and Grimm" series-remain popular.-Alec Chunn, Eugene Public Library, OR © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
What do you get when you blend the bloodier, scarier appeal of fairy tales with zombies and vampires and then mix in broad humor based on linguistic mix-ups? A mash-up that will appeal more to fans of Goosebumps or Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm (2010) than to those who like the Disneyfied tales. In White's version, Rapunzel sports a Mohawk and is the proud owner of a very, very long snake named Herr; Snow White's more likely to drain you dry than smile sweetly; and Cinderella is prone to arson so no live cinders are allowed in her fireplace. The common thread that ties the stories together is the stepmother just one who tries her best to keep all her oddball stepchildren from wreaking complete destruction. Can her most unlikely charge, Jack, who infamously mixes up the ingredients of pease porridge with pee, actually save the day? Readers who like this kind of humor will eat it up (just don't taste the porridge). A clever, if at times slightly disgusting, read. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: White's a reliable best-seller in YA, and she tackles a consistently high-interest topic in this foray into middle grade an irresistible match.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2017 Booklist
