Fresh, funny, and fairest of all, Whatever After: Fairest of All is book one in what appears to be a planned series. It is a great beginning full of fun and puns! Siblings Abby and Jonah have just moved cross country to Smithville, a small town that pales in comparison to Abby's beloved Chicago. They live in a creepy old house where Jonah has discovered something quite strange in the basement.
He wakes his sister up and together they venture downstairs in the middle of the night. Jonah shows Abby how he knocked on the mirror and it began to shimmer and hiss and suddenly they are sucked into the ornate mirror and find themselves in a huge forest. Everything is weirdly off and they have no way of getting back home.
Suddenly the basement and Smithville are looking better and better! They run into a wrinkled grandmotherly old lady who is just rude. Abby can't believe a grandmother type can be rude--grandmothers are supposed to be nice. They follow her to a small cottage where she tries to trick the occupant into letting her in.
Jonah is starving, and when the grandmother offers the girl inside the cottage an apple, Jonah begs for the apple. He thwarts the woman's plan of poisoning the girl, and now the kids have to set the fairy tale right again. The old woman is really the witch/queen from the castle and the girl in the cottage is none other than Snow White. The queen has stolen the castle and banished Snow to the woods where she lives with the seven dwarfs. Except these dwarfs have names like Alan and Stan and there's even female dwarfs Enid and Tara!
The kids realize that by not eating the poison apple, Snow cannot go to sleep and the prince can't come and fall in love with her and kiss her and live happily ever after. They feel responsible for Snow's predicament and decide to right the wrong. After that, they can figure out how to go home. The dialog between Abby and Jonah is precious and lovely. Two siblings have never been better together.
Abby is one of the funniest and snarkiest characters in a tween novel. She is freshly captivating and clever; her voice is spot on. Girls will want to be her or--in the least--be her BFF. Fairest of All is a sure hit and should not be missed by any girl who loves a funny fairy tale with clever comedic pitch. Highly, highly recommended grades 4-up. Easy to read and easy to love. Middle school students will love this one, too! 192 pages Ages 9 and up
Pamela Thompson, MLIS, Library Media Specialist, Texas USA
Visit her ya novels blog at https://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com/
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They've got to fix the story. If they don't Evil Evelyn could return and kill Snow for real.
Fifth-grader Abby and her younger brother, Jonah, went down into their basement one night and the mirror on the wall sucked their parents law books, chairs, their shoes and finally both of them into another world. It's a fairytale world.
Trying to figure out how to get back home the two siblings follow and old woman who seems to know just where she is going. After some over hill and dale hiking, the old woman arrives before a cottage and knocks on the door. "I'm not allowed to answer the door, " comes a voice from inside. Apples, the old woman offers. I've come to sell you an apple.
Any of this ringing familiar? Girl with white skin and hair the color of ebony? Red rose lips anyone?
Yes, Abby and Jonah have landed in the middle of the whole Snow White fairytale and now they've got two problems on their hands. How are they going to help Snow live happily ever after and how are they going to get home?
Spunky, humorous, and as edgy as a good old-fashioned fairytale should be.
Ages 8-11 978-0545403306
Recommended by: Barb, abookandahug.com
Series includes Books 1-11, plus additional Special Editions.
