Black Pearls

April 15, 2008
Seven gems based on traditional fairy tales make up this collection of unique short stories. In these beautifully written, sometimes harsh retellings, Cinderella craves the deaths of her wicked stepmother and stepsisters; Rapunzel is actually Rampion, the deceptive daughter of a kindly witch; and Erin, one of the seven dwarfs, falls in love with Snow White. Each freshly named fairy tale is told from an untraditional perspective, such as the harp from Jack and the Beanstalk, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, and a crippled child in The Pied Piper. Each contains enough clues to guide teens back to the familiar and sometimes innuendo-laden classic fairy tales of their childhoods, and Guays fantastical pencil drawings, a few of which include modestly posed nudes, enhance the sense of character and magic. Twisted, clever, and artfully written, these are high-quality additions to the fractured fairy-tale genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)