Tag Archives: middle grade

Review: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

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15766776Title: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Author: Liesl Shurtliff

Publishing Information: April 9th 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Genre: Middle Grade, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Fantasy, Magic

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 272 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Fans of Christopher Healy and Adam Gidwitz, readers looking for a fun and lighthearted read

This novel was positively adorable. You may think you know the story of Rumpelstiltskin, but what of the child who became the man? As in the original tale, names hold power in this debut middle grade novel, a name is someone’s destiny, but who controls it?

This novel is run by its characters, and it’s a good thing too because they were all vibrant and interesting, and altogether enjoyable. Rump was a steller character, it was so easy to root for him throughout the novel and I personally wanted to just pluck him out of the novel, fatten him up, and keep him in my pocket, safe from harm. I have to say that as a reader, I was expecting Rump to turn into the villain that most of us know from childhood tales, as this novel is telling the story of how he became who he is. Instead, Rump is a character I completely sympathized with and it was really refreshing to see him as a sweet and innocent child.

His best friend Red was feisty and I sincerely hope that the author has some plans to tell us her story because that is surely something that I would love to read. The other secondary characters were just as entertaining, though the trolls were by far my favorite. The villains were villainous but not overly so, just enough to make you grind your teeth in frustration and wish you could poke them directly in the eye or something equally appalling.

“Because some things people like to keep to themselves. This has always been my tree, and I don’t want anyone else to know about it. If you tell, I’ll punch your teeth out.”

“It made me feel really special that she would share it with me.”

I just feel as if I need to get this out of the way, what is up with these middle grade novels being so incredibly long?! That isn’t particularly a complaint because I adore them and there is of course no “right” way to write a novel but I can’t tell you how many times I was secretly wishing that the fabulous 400+ page MG I was reading was really only 300 or less.  The point of this mini rant is that Rump was not one of those overly long novels that make you wonder why so many ineffectual details have been included in an already fabulous tale. There are so many middle grade novels out there that feel too long, or on the other end, too juvenile, to entertain an array of readers. Thankfully this is not the case for Rump. Instead, readers are transformed to an entertaining, yet simple setting to watch a detailed yet straightforward plot unfold. This is not a novel that contains twists and turns, but there are enough obstacles that you will find yourself holding out hope that Rump is able to write his own destiny and escape the magic that holds him hostage.

Rump felt just right in the manner that it wasn’t lacking detail or plot in any way, yet it was also enough to undeniably entertain a reader of all ages. Fans of Christopher Healy and Adam Gidwitz will absolutely adore this book. If you are looking for a fun and lighthearted read, pick this one up immediately.

A condensed version of this review can be found at bookalicious.

Review: The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy

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16248123Title: The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle

Author: Christopher Healy

Publishing Information: April 30 2013, by Walden Pond Press

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Humor

Series information: Book two The League of Princes

Format: Hardcover, 496 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher

Recommended For: Fans middle grade and fairy tale lovers of all ages

Alas, such fame and recognition only lasts so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening – even if no one will ever know it was they who did it.

One would assume that after saving the bards of the land, the Princes Charming would get some glorious fame. Unfortunately, as we learned in book one of The League of Princes, the bards don’t always get it right. Instead, Frederick and Ella are back to their boring day to day activities, Gustav is still living in the shadow of his older brothers, and Liam is still hiding from his bridezilla. Unfortunately for Liam, Briar Rose is no dummy and it doesn’t take long before she hatches a plan to steal her future husband and in turn, force him to marry her. One would assume that the league (and Ella, of course) would do their best to steal Liam back, but they are thwarted and get imprisoned by Briar, and therefore become stuck helping her steal back a magical sword from the child king, Deeb Rauber. Thus begins the tale of how the League of Princes (and Ella, and then later, Lila) embark on a journey to storm the castle.

I have to say, if The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom focused mainly on the Princes Charming, The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle was very much led by the villains, and I’m not complaining! We see much more from the villains in this sequel and this reader is overjoyed by the complexity of the characters found in Storming the Castle, you guys know I love me some layered characters! Deeb Rauber is back again and he is just as childish and ruthless as he was in the first installment of the series. His character reminds the reader that as we grow, many of us lose our imagination that would enable us to make a torture chamber equipped with a spitball moistener. Briar Rose is just as prickly as she was in book one, but the reader is able to see a different side to her, one that makes your head tilt a bit and wonder if there is more to the spoiled brat than meets the eye. I was actually ecstatic to find that she was included in so many of the shenanigans that went on throughout the novel. My favorite, “villain,” (though he will argue that Bounty Hunting is a legitimate profession) was definitely Ruffian the Blue. I was really unsure of his motives at moments throughout the novel, but I found that every time he was on the page that he stole my heart a little. Perhaps it was the way he helped save Lila, or more probable, the way he argued his absolute need for his cowl.

Briar rubbed the fabric of Ruffian’s cowl between her thumb and forefinger. “Why aren’t you wearing a cloak? I wanted a henchman draped in a mysterious cloak.”
“How could the name of the garment possibly make a difference?” Ruffian asked.
“It sounds scarier,” Briar said. “‘Cowl’ is the least terrifying word I’ve ever heard.”
“Oh, I disagree,” Duncan added. “It makes me think of cow-owls. And those are horrifying. MOO-WHO! MOO-WHO!”

Other fantastic characters that had a bit more limelight were Snow White, Rapunzel, and Lila. You may remember that one thing I had hoped from this novel was that Mr. Healy would provide us with some more Rapunzel, and I am so glad to say that he didn’t disappoint. Rapunzel was as sweet and helpful as ever, and Snow White was adorably naive and loving, especially when sharing a scene with her just as lovable husband, Duncan. Lila, on the other hand, was daring, adventurous, and full of spirit, she was really like a younger, and equally amazing version of Ella. In few words, I loved her. The Princes Charming all had their own issues to handle and it was wonderful to watch as they grew and worked on themselves through the novel. I was very happy with the growth we saw in Gustav and found him particularly charming in a way that I somehow missed in the first book. One thing I can say for sure is that each of the Princes Charming holds their own in their own way and though they each carry their own unique baggage qualities, they all come together to form one spectacular group.

No one will be surprised to hear that I adored this novel, I was surprised at how Christopher Healy managed to again make me feel such a range of emotions, the most of which made me laugh out loud while reading. I won’t say that I was dissatisfied with the ending, rather that I had hoped for things to be tied up a bit differently. I can only assume that Mr. Healy plans to extend this series and eventually give the readers what they need in the form of a big ‘ol wedding. No, I won’t tell you who I’m rooting for! In short, everyone should read this series, I find it hard to not fall to my knees and thank the author for again delivering a book that made me feel like a kid again!

Review: In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz

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Title: In a Glass Grimmly

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Publishing Information: September 27, 2012, Dutton Children’s Books

Genre: Middle-Grade, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

Series information: Companion novel to A Tale Dark and Grimm

Format: Paperback, 312 pages

Source: ARC from the publisher (BEA 2012)

Recommended For: Fans of fairytales, and fairy tale rewrites, anyone looking for a fun read

 Take caution ahead—

Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.

Lest you enter with dread.

Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.

Step lively, dear reader . . .

Happily ever after isn’t cutting it anymore. 

It’s no question that I loved A Tale Dark and Grimm, it was one of my favorite reads of 2011 and I recommend it every possible chance that I get.  So imagine my surprise as I am stalking the Penguin booth at BEA and I see a HUGE poster showcasing the cover with artwork that looked suspiciously like that on the cover of A Tale Dark and Grimm. I stop in my tracks and my mouth hits the ground “HEIDI!” I scream, “DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A NEW GIDWITZ BOOK?!” People stared, I was nicely pushed along in the crowd and Heidi was all “Duh they are giving away ARCS on Thursday.” (Except a lot sweeter and more Heidi-like) so we did our best and FAILED to obtain one in the end. However, my awesome boss knows that I am slightly obsessed so when she obtained a copy for summer reading prizes she pressed it into my hands lovingly and said, “Go forth, and read to your heart’s desire.” And I did.

Like A Tale Dark and Grimm, this story focuses on two children who leave their homes due to humility and lack of positive parenting. They are joined by a frog, who has a story of his own to tell, and they all set out on some pretty interesting adventures. Through these adventures the story of Jack (and Jill) and the beanstalk are told, as well as Jack Jill the Giant Killer and we learn just how Jack broke his crown after tumbling (very far) down. There is also a pretty sinister mermaid story, which I utterly adored, some rather hungry goblins and an absolutely loveable yet terrifying salamander named Eidechse von Feuer, der Menschenfleischfressende, or Eddie, for short.

The hilarious narrator was back again to help sooth us through those tough moments and more importantly, to help explain what goblins really look like and not just what we think they look like due to the desensitization of video games. This brought a sense of humor to the already interesting and somewhat dark storylines that I really loved.

For those of you who enjoyed A Tale Dark and Grimm, In a Glass Grimmly does not disappoint. For those of you wondering if this is the book for you I urge you to give it a try, it was interesting, witty and all around fun. It was a joy to read and I thoroughly hope Adam Gidwitz continues writing these twisted tales as he really does a phenomenal job.

Review: The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

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Title: The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

Author: Christopher Healy

Publishing Information: May 1 2012, by Walden Pond Press

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Humor

Series information: Book one in a planned series

Format: Hardcover, 436 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Fans middle grade and fairy tale lovers of all ages

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be. (Via Goodreads)

When you’re a child, you start reading books for the entertainment. You want to get away from the real world and feel elation over the adventure. That is what this book did for me; it made me remember how fun it is to read.

I for one have always wondered why every king and queen in fairytale land named their son Charming. It turns out, they didn’t. In fact, these princes all have their own unique name and story, though you’d never know it due to those pesky bards! The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom focuses on four separate Princes Charming: Prince Frederic (He met Cinderella Ella at a ball), Prince Gustav (He saved was saved by a gal named Rapunzel), Prince Liam (He kissed a princess named Briar Rose and woke her up from a really long nap), and Prince Duncan (He and Snow White are rather perfect for one another). The princes have their own quirks and are vastly different though they find themselves thrown together in a quest that will save all of their kingdoms and teach them all what it means to become heroes of their own tale.

Life between the princes and princesses is not what any of them had anticipated it would be…

Ella wants adventure and life with Frederic is not at all what she had imagined it would be when she met him that night at the ball. While Ella would rather travel and explore, Frederic is much happier having a quiet picnic on his grounds – on a blanket of course, one must keep clean – or quietly admiring art in the safety of his castle, this difference in personality leads Ella to go off on her own, leaving Frederic to his safe, (somewhat boring) life.

Gustav often acts before thinking and therefore his mission of rescuing Rapunzel from her tower didn’t go as planned and she ended up leaving on her own, finding him wandering the forest, and rescuing him. As you can imagine, this is a rather sore subject for someone who believes himself to be quite the manly hero so he takes off to search for some adventure of his own and a way to make a name for himself, away from Rapunzel and his sixteen older brothers.

Liam, though arrogant, is really a bit more like the Prince Charming from the original tales. He is handsome, brave and well, princely. Unfortunately, when Prince Liam first rescued Briar Rose, he did not anticipate that she would be spoiled, selfish and an all-together mean person. This led to a rather awkward conversation in which Liam refused to marry Briar Rose and she threw a royal fit and vowed that she would marry him while he stood in shackles if need be. He promptly (and intelligently, in my opinion) put as much distance possible between himself and the princess.

Finally, Prince Duncan and Snow White are married and are quite happy for the most part. However, Duncan is rather quirky and sometimes Snow just needs some quiet time so she asks Duncan to “Go do something else” without her. He then blows Snow a kiss, leaves for a walk and becomes hopelessly lost. Lucky for him (and he will be the first to tell you just how lucky he is) he is found a few days later by Frederic and Gustav who are on their way to “rescue” Ella. Personally, I loved Duncan beyond reason. His antics and outbursts had me laughing out loud. He is definitely one of the sweetest characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about.

“Wild card, got it,” Duncan said. “Just like in Crazy Eights. I can be a diamond; I can be a spade. Whatever you need me to be, I’m that thing. That is so me.”

Both the princes and princesses are fabulous, though I hope we hear more from Rapunzel in book two and I greatly appreciated their vast differences and limitations that made them all stand out. The villains were also fantastic; I have a rather soft spot for a witch who uses a thesaurus spell so that she can insult people more creatively! The dwarves (not dwarfs) provide some snarky fun and the trolls are vastly misunderstood creatures.

This book made me insanely happy. It made me remember what it was like to curl up with my first Wizard of Oz book as a child. It made me smile, giggle and laugh out loud, a feat that few books are able to accomplish. But most of all, it helped me realize that I really do have a soft spot for Middle Grade novels. Thank you, Mr. Healy, for reminding me what it feels like to fall in love with reading for the first time.

As an aside: There isn’t one thing I would change about this novel. On top of having a lyrical and phenomenal story, the illustrations were a wonderful compliment to the tale. Also, I am definitely not a person who longs for books to be made into movies. In fact, I rather hate when it happens. However, this book was different. According to Christopher Healy’s website, it has been announced that 20th Century Fox Animation has optioned the film rights to The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. I am thrilled and can’t wait to see where this goes!

For fun extras on the heroes and to find out what they’re up to next, check out Christopher Healy’s blog or twitter.

Review: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

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Title: Liesl & Po

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publishing Information: October 4, 2011 by HarperCollins

Genre: Middle Grade, Paranormal, Magic

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 313 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a sweet novel about friendship


Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist’s apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will’s mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

Liesl has been locked in the attic by her evil stepmother for 13 months, this was bearable until Liesl’s father died without her getting to say goodbye to him. Now the life that Liesl tolerated has been turned upside down. She doesn’t take pleasure in drawing anymore and is simply “existing” instead of “living.” One night a ghost named Po and its pet named Bundle visit Liesl. These two are not what you would think when you hear the word “ghost,” Po is neither a girl nor a boy and Bundle is neither a cat nor a dog, they simple are. Liesl forms a friendship with these two and they assist her in escaping from her stepmother’s clutches, stealing her father’s ashes and taking off to a town far away so that she can bring her father “home.” As Liesl is living this adventure there is a young boy named Will, the apprentice to an alchemist who has just created the “most powerful magic in the world.” Will has a mission to deliver this magic to someone very important but he misplaces it and there is much confusion that follows. His adventure becomes entwined with Liesl’s adventure and many other characters are thrown into the mix.

Liesl & Po was an absolutely lovely story. Lauren Oliver really has a way with words and I found myself reading parts of the story out loud to people around me because some of the lines from the novel were very thought invoking and all together beautifully written. This story centers around death, neglect and forms of abuse yet the way in which it was written really focused on the hope, love and joy of the characters presented. Some of my favorite parts are the interactions between Liesl and Po. For example, after Po comes back to Liesl with information on her father Liesl is very agitated at Po’s lack of enthusiasm, which he brushes off as him being tired…

“I’m very sorry to hear you are tired,” she said stiffly, her inside voice screaming: Tell me what you know about my dad! Tell me or I’ll kill you again! I’ll make you a double ghost!

“What does that mean? What does it mean to say you’re sorry?”

Liesl groped for words to describe it. “It means – it means what it means. It means that I feel bad. It means that I wish I could make you untired.”

Po flipped upside down and righted itself, still obviously confused. “But why should you wish anything for me?”

“It’s an expression,” Liesl said. Then she thought hard for a minute. “People need other people to feel things for them,” she said. “It gets lonely to feel things all by yourself.”

Oliver hit it right on the nose at that moment for me; misery loves company and so forth. There were many moments like this in the story, the book was well written and it provided a nice backdrop to the middle grade novel with characters so young. It is also important to note that the author wrote this novel after losing someone very close to her and she explains how the story helped her to heal. I have lost someone close to me as well and I have to say that this story shed a new whimsical light on something that cuts deep.

Though there were illustrations that made the physical book very appealing, the audio book is read by Jim Dale and from what I have heard he gives a magnificent performance. This book comes highly recommended it’s a sweet story and overall made me ineffably happy.