Alice in Wonderland High

February 15, 2015
The beloved children's classic is reimagined as a teen treatise on environmental activism. After Alice's parents die in a car accident on the way to protest farmland rezoning in Wonderland, Illinois, she vows to keep their ideals alive by staging her own actions. After a failed solo attempt to steal school letterhead and donate it to the recycling center, Alice decides to join forces with a vigilante eco-group whose members resemble the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. Together, they vandalize private property and homes in the name of environmentalism, rescue a pig from experimentation, and investigate why Wonderland township is forcing family farmers off their land and building housing complexes. At least, that's what they seem to be investigating. The overwritten prose is so densely populated with self-conscious similes and metaphors it is often difficult to follow the convoluted plot. Far too many actions and statements are repeated in greater detail in the following paragraph, to the point where readers may feel they're being told over and over what just happened. Finally, the author is so busy making the characters painfully and obviously conform to their literary counterparts that any spark of personality or characterization is squashed. What is left is a message-y, cliche-ridden mishmash that neither breaks new ground nor pays homage to its inspiration. Leave this novel at the bottom of the rabbit hole. (Fiction. 10-13)

June 1, 2015

Gr 7-10-While she wishes to carry on the legacy of her eco-warrior parents, petite Alice is torn between that promise and maintaining the good-girl image she has developed since their deaths. When her mild protest liberating boxes of school letterhead to recycle gets hijacked by a much more savvy and secretive protester from her school, Whitney Lapin, Alice begins taking on bigger ways to shock those in her town and school into concern over their environment. She joins a far more active and risk-taking group of ecologically aware teens, including Chester Katz, a cute guy with quite a grin, who has a habit of disappearing from time to time. Additional characters include author Shane's version of Tweedle Dee and Dum (Alice's vapid school friends who act like they are two bodies of the same mind) and the Mad Hatter, another mysterious member of the socially conscious group, all of whom go to a school led by Principal Dodgson. There's even a drink given to Alice when she's an initiate to the group that seems to make her smaller. Mostly in small and not terribly important ways, these references to Lewis Carroll's stories are peppered throughout, but only teens with deep knowledge of the original work will find them cute or clever. While the writing is serviceable, the book lacks relatable characters and engaging plot points. VERDICT This ecologically themed homage to Alice in Wonderland crossed with high school drama is ultimately not worth a trip down the rabbit hole.-Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

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