Selznick's: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Part novel, part storyboard, part picture book, Brian Selznick creates an historical fiction page-turner in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a survival story of a resourceful youth named Hugo who lives hidden in the walls of a French train station. Engaging, suspenseful, and a quick read, the story takes readers back to 19th century France at the time of the Paris World Exposition. The marvelous mechanical inventions of the time which become the centerpiece of the story are no less a wonder more than a century later. The reader will no doubt want to learn more, after the very clever ending, about many of the things mentioned in the story. This endeavor will be facilitated by the author's notes included in acknowledgements and credits.

Gaiman's: The Wolves in the Walls

Picture books just don't look like they used to. Neil Gaiman writes a nightmarish tale of wolves coming from the walls of Lucy's family's home. Lucy knows and warns, but her family denies and ignores until it is too late. Will the family stay to fight or run in fear? McKean's paint/drawing embellished photo collages help set the foreboding tone. This off-the-wall story wouldn't be complete without a surprise visit from the Queen of Melanesia to assist with the gardening. When it comes right down to it, this story is about facing fears and an important pig puppet. Gaiman may also be having a little fun with the idea of urban legends.

Carman's: Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine

DO NOT READ THESE BOOKS without making sure to watch the accompanying videos. A brilliant multi-media concept. Ryan McCray is a teen keeping a journal of his and his friend Sarah Fincher's investigation into mysteries surrounding an old mining dredge in their hometown. At various points in the story, the reader is directed to Sarah's website to view video footage of Sarah's part in the investigation as the story progresses. The investigation starts to uncover things Ryan may not want to know about his own family, perhaps his whole town. The kids don't know who they can trust. Carman stops the action mid story so the first book by itself may leave readers unsatisfied. The second book brings the mystery to a conclusion with one thing left for Sarah to investigate and to leave Ryan nervous about. Video footage may be too intense for younger readers to watch alone.

Hale's: Rapunzel's Revenge

Shannon and Dean Hale turn Rapunzel, damsel in distress, into Rapunzel, action hero with illustrator Nathan Hale. Presented in graphic novel format, Rapunzel teams with Jack of beanstock fame to take down the evil witch who destroyed the land of Gothel's Reach. This volume told in four parts is packed with action and adventure, just enough backstory, and high quality full color comic book style illustrations.

Fairy Tales Revisited

Diane Stanley writes a sequel to Rumpelstiltskin in Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter. The miller's daughter is now married to Rumpelstiltskin and has a wise daughter. The king is back to his greedy ways and his kingdom is impoverished. The daughter takes him on and tricks him into giving away his gold. Some very nice details in the illustrations including some clever and comical homages to many master painters. Readers will likely find that more was removed from the original tale than was actually added here, including much of the charm.

Virginia Hamilton relates a West Indian version of the little gold spinning man in The Girl Who Spun Gold. Told in simplified colloquial speech patterns of the West Indies this tale too has a greedy king and rich detailed illustrations with shiny gold accents by Leo and Diane Dillon. The patterns in the woven cloth are beautiful and the angry little man explodes in an extravagant display in the end.

An illustrator/writer Kevin O'Malley teams up with two more illustrators, Carol Heyer (princess illustrations) and Scott Goto (motorcycle dude illustrations), to create Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude. With this battle of the sexes, 3rd grade style, the story of a pony loving Barbie-esque Princess Tenderheart is introduced by a little girl. It seems a giant is stealing away her ponies making the poor princess distraught. The story turns from pink and lavender melodrama to black and orange action adventure when voiced by her little boy partner. And in if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em spirit the story goes from wacky to over the top volcano-exploding silly...the end. But wait, there's more...

Napoli's: The Prince of the Pond

Donna Jo Napoli has created more than a fairy tale revisitation in The Prince of the Pond; she may have created a whole science lesson on frogs and pond life. I definitely learned a few things about frogs I did not know before. The Frog Prince in this version needs to be taught the ways of a frog through the voice of a female frog friend. It is very easy to separate factual elements from fiction and will inevitably lead to discussions of such as well as issues brought up in the story: life cycle, food web, survival, fertilization. This is definitely a good choice for 2nd and 3rd grade read-alouds.

Shusterman's: Dread Locks

The first and probably the best of Neal Shusterman's darkfusion series, Dread Locks marries the story Goldilocks with a familiar mythical tale. This story provides at least one worth while shock, while some of the fun was actually pre-guessing which story Shusterman was going to choose for the supernatural element. The familiar opposites motif (too hot, too cold; too hard, too soft) is repeated playfully throughout the story of main character Parker (baby) Baer told in the first person voice. Of the three books in the series, this one feels the most natural and organic in composition while the other two tale pairings seem a bit overly contrived. A lack of development in some of the secondary characters leads the reader to care not too much about their eventual fate conspicuously detracting from the plot. Although the story revolves around teenagers of privilege, the theme of teenage boredom is explored in detail and probably made accessible to a wider range of readers.

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Napoli's: Zel

In her re-imagining of the fairy tale Rapunzel, Donna Jo Napoli stays true to the Grimm's version. She expands the story by developing in greater detail the characters of the prince, Rapunzel, and the witch (stepmother). She also explores themes of loneliness, love, obsession, rejection, and sacrifice. The only departure Napoli takes from the original here is that the prince meets Rapunzel before she is imprisoned in the tower. This allows for the witch's and the prince's obsession with Rapunzel to be juxtaposed throughout the story. She also explains the origins of the witch's power and the reason for Rapunzel's rapid hair growth. Should be fairly satisfying for those who appreciate novel-length fairy tales.

Vande Velde's: The Rumpelstiltskin Problem

For fans of the fairytale rewrite, there is a buffet here from the world of Rumpelstiltskin. Vivian Vande Velde offers six versions of the troll's tale, including one version without any mention of the troll at all, in an attempt to reconcile problems or questions she was left with from the original version. All six versions are different (some opening a few holes of their own), each with different main characters (sometimes the troll, the king, the miller, or the daughter) but each with its own satisfying conclusion. A fun light read.

Gehrman's: Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty

I was not looking forward to reading this novel as I was put off by the bright pink cover with swirls, polka-dots, and a heart. I was sure it would be filled with teen girl dialogue referring to all sorts of things of which I had no interest. It turns out I was partially correct. The story is told through diary entries of a teen girl who often talks about clothes, friends, and boys. However, the style of writing is such that this intelligent teenager captivates the reader drawing them quickly into the teenage intrigue. A quarter of the way through the story I realized that this was a Shakeperean homage or rewrite of which play I did not know until the main character's revealed their real names. Jody Gehrman updates one of Shakespeare's funniest plots with colorful, intelligent, intentionally stereotypical teens and parents. The dialogue and plot are both witty and engaging. I found myself concerned less with the things Gehrman's character's were saying than how they were saying them. Note: this title is not in CLC's library. This book has a well received sequel which is a retelling of another favorite classic. Click here to watch a book trailer.

Draper's: Romiette and Julio

The developing romance and lives of two teens of differing socio-economic backgrounds are threatened by a local gang. There is not much in the way of Shakesperean style or element here except for perhaps the main character's names: Romiette Capelle, an African American teen from Cincinnati and Julio Montague, an hispanic teen from Corpus Cristi. This book may be enjoyed by the teen reader glossing over references to car phones, cellular phones, and chatrooms. The two main characters and their supporting sidekicks are written charmingly enough and seem to have more sense than their respective sets of parents. The parents, though their dialogue at times is somewhat telling and awkward, actually experience more change than their children. The ditzy co-anchor subplot dialogue tends to be insulting rather than providing the comic relief as it was probably intended. Note: this title is not in CLC's library.