Fairy Tale

June 29, 2009
Morgan and her football star boyfriend Cam have been “attached at the hip since kindergarten,” but now their love is threatened by the Otherworld—a land of fairies. Morgan has always possessed the ability to see into the future: who will get into Harvard, who is gay and whose relationships will last (“It's not my fault. I just deliver the mail; I don't write it,” she says). As the teens' sweet 16 approaches (they share a birthday), Cam begins to grow wings, and his odd cousin Pip appears to explain that Cam must return to the Otherworld, enter into an arranged marriage and become king of that realm. While plotting to save Cam as he shrinks into a fairy, Pip and Morgan develop their own romance. The plot of Balog's debut novel unfolds quickly, without much suspense, and while Morgan's voice is often entertaining, she feels somewhat remote as a narrator—it's difficult to get a sense of her as a character. An intermittently gripping if not especially memorable addition to the urban faerie genre. Ages 12–up.

December 1, 2009
Gr 8 Up-Morgan Sparks and her football-star boyfriend, Cameron, were born on the same day. Close all their lives, the two are looking forward to celebrating their 16th birthday with a blowout bash. Then, a week before the party, Morgan catches Cameron hanging out with a new girl. It turns out that he is a fairy changeling, and that Dawn is a fairy sent to prepare him for his one-way journey back to fairyland. Pip, the gawky, geeky human who grew up in fairyland in Cam's place, has come with her. Morgan, whose psychic abilities allow her to see through the fairy spell that keeps most humans ignorant of Cam's transition, watches her once-formidable boyfriend sprout wings, shrink, and prepare to become the Fairy King. Some comic moments arise from Cam's changes, as well as from Pip's awkward acculturation into the human world and Morgan's hit-and-miss sassy narration. Underneath the comedy, there is also pathos: Morgan and Cameron losing their first love, and Cameron's coming to accept that the life he thought he wanted is now impossible. The plot is the weakest element: Morgan's plan to save Cam is half-hearted, the final action sequence lacks tension, and the mechanics of fairy magic are never quite consistent. "Fairy Tale" has a few choice witticisms and touching moments, but Morgan is no Maggie Quinn."Megan Honig, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2009
Grades 7-10 Morgan cannot envision life without Cam, her boyfriend who has also been her neighbor and best friend since birth. Her psychic ability to predict the future doesnt work on herself or Cam, but she is sure their life together will be perfect. A week before their joint sweet-16 party, however, they learn that Cam is a fairy changelingand not only do the fairies want him back, theyve brought the human, Pip, whose place he took. Awkward Pip has trouble adapting to the human world and joins the other two in conspiring to save Cam and return Pip to his realm. As both boys change drastically, however, becoming who they are supposed to be, Morgan confronts the knowledge that the best thing she can do is let Cam go. Morgans flip first-person narrative is hilarious, though her self-absorbed denial may frustrate readers waiting for her to do the right thing. Still, Morgans distinctively funny voice and the touching three-way romance will make this a popular addition to the urban fairy romance market.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)