Fairest of All

felicisowl - "My whole body tenses. I do not like hissing. Especially hissing mirrors." There are a lot of other things Abby doesn't like - dangerous things like rock climbing, freeze tag, and smushing bananas on peanut butter sandwiches. But most of all, she doesn't like Smithville - she just wishes she could move back to her old town, Chicago, with her nana. Worst of all, there's a frightening mirror in the basement that is EXTREMELY weird, suspicious, and most of all, creepy. Late at night her little brother Jonah decides to play Flying Crocodiles in the basement, and of course, Abby has to take care and supervise her little brother because she is the responsible, older sister. Even if it is in the basement - with the creepy mirror. Her brother notices the mirror right away, of course, because he has an eye for adventure, and knocks on it. Once, twice, and then three times because three times is the charm, isn't it? NOT - the creepy mirror sucks up both Abby and Jonah and land them in a creepy forest, apparently, very far away from Smithville. Abby and Jonah decide to follow a mysterious, creepy, evil-looking old lady carrying a basket so that they can ask for directions, but the lady seems strangely preoccupied and ignores them. She arrives at this cottage and offers an apple to a girl that's older than Abby with pale, snow-white skin, black ivory hair, and blood-red lips. Wait just a second - snow-white skin, black ivory hair, and blood-red lips? It's Snow White? Okay, Abby and Jonah are another dimension away from home. Since they've figured at least THAT out, they decide to save the story (because they already know the lady's trying to poison Snow White) by jumping in the way and ruining the evil plan. The lady screams and cries vengeance, and stomps away. Hurray! They've saved the story - oh no. If Snow White isn't poisoned, she won't be in a coffin. If Snow White isn't in a coffin, the prince won't ride by and think she's dead and kiss her to wake her. She won't get her happy ending! Oops. Now since they started this whole mess, they have to end it. This is very very bad - especially since the Evil Queen (aka Evil Evelyn, because Evelyn's her real name and obviously she is very evil) is now trying to poison Snow White plus Abby and Jonah too (since they foiled her plan earlier, she is out for revenge.) There are other methods the Evil Queen uses, like poisoned cookies and a hammer - I'll leave it at that. Now they try a different approach - just get the Prince to kiss Snow White and all will be solved! Abby and Jonah tried to get Snow to lie in the coffin so that when the Prince came by on his horse on his way to the Evil Queen's castle (they sent a fake letter from the Evil Queen, saying to come to her castle) he would see her, fall in love, and then kiss her! Yay! It turns out that Snow is pretty much a little afraid of everything and was afraid of the Prince kissing her, so she jumped out of the coffin, ruining her chance at a happy ending. Well, Abby and Jonah aren't done yet. Their final attempt is to sneak into Evil Evelyn's castle and do many things - (1) she has a magic mirror that can send Abby and Jonah home (2) They find out the prince is being held hostage there, so they need to rescue him (3) After the prince is freed, overthrow Evil Evelyn and get the prince to kiss Snow. I guess you know that it doesn't go exactly to plan. Instead a whirlwind of misfortune happens - ending with an arrow shot by Evil Evelyn, aimed at Snow White. Is this their final ending? Did Abby and Jonah change Snow White instead of the worse for the better? Will Snow die or...

April 2, 2012
This delightful kickoff to the Whatever After series demonstrates Mlynowski’s (the Magic in Manhattan series) prowess at writing for middle-graders. In the
cleverly tangled and quite funny story, 10-year-old Abby and her younger brother, Jonah, are sucked into the mirror in their basement. Landing in a forest, they follow an old woman to a cottage and end up preventing Snow White from eating the apple the woman offers her. Since she didn’t eat the poisoned fruit and a prince won’t revive her with a kiss, Abby laments that they’ve “ruined her life” and vows to “fix” Snow White’s story. Mlynowski’s story is studded with comical pratfalls, witty quips, and one-liners (“I’ll take it! I’ll take the yummy, juicy apple,” a famished Jonah tells the disguised queen). The testy but devoted relationship between Abby and Jonah will resonate with readers, Mlynowski’s twists on the original story entertain, and Abby’s exclamatory narration grabs attention from the start. The ending hints at another trip through the basement mirror—a promising prospect. Ages 8–12. Agent: Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary Agency.

March 15, 2012
A magic mirror, a slightly bossy sister and her inquisitive 7-year-old brother captivate in this rollicking remake of a classic fairy tale. An aspiring judge, 10-year-old Abby especially likes fairy tales' clarity; in fairy tales, "good is good, and bad is bad." However, Abby's orderly world is overturned when her brother Jonah accidentally awakens the eerie mirror in the basement of their new home. Suddenly, they find themselves in Snow White's world--just in time to valiantly foil the evil queen's poisoned-apple plot. This is cause for celebration until they realize that now "Snow" no longer requires rescuing by the prince. Comical misadventures ensue as the pragmatic Abby and exuberant Jonah attempt to resolve their dilemma, with many surprises along the way. Mlynowski blends elements from the traditional tale with the Disney movie version and adds her own modern twist. The result is an uproariously funny read. The swift pace of the tale and non-stop action combined with Abby's quick wit will enchant readers from the first page. While Snow's story is satisfactorily settled, the author leaves enough beguiling mysteries to keep readers eagerly anticipating the siblings' next adventure. (Fantasy. 9-12)

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May 1, 2012

Gr 3-5-When fifth-grader Abby and her younger brother, Jonah, move from Chicago to boring small-town Smithville, they think the exciting part of their lives might be over. Then Jonah discovers a hissing mirror in the basement. After he knocks on it three times, it swallows them both up and spits them out in a fairy-tale land called Zamel. They arrive as Snow White's evil stepmother is attempting to poison Snow with an apple, just like in the story. They save her from that fate, but soon realize their huge mistake. If Snow doesn't eat the apple, the prince never gets to rescue her, and she never falls in love with him. They have actually ruined her happily-ever-after. Somehow they have to get his attention, but it won't be easy. This is essentially "Snow White" retold, with enough amusing changes thrown in to keep readers giggling. Some of the dwarfs are girls, one of them is ridiculously handsome, and the mirror's name is Gabrielle. While Snow White is annoyingly vapid, Abby's conversational narration is witty and charming, and Jonah's one-liners are snappy and clever. A light, fun adventure.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2012
Grades 4-6 There's once upon a time and happily ever after, but what happens when the story gets all tangled up in the middle? That question is at the heart of this debut title in a new fairy-tale-themed series. Ten-year-old Abby and her seven-year-old brother, Jonah, are living a normal life in a new town until they discover the mirror in the basement. When they knock on its surface three times, they're whizzed away to fairy-tale land and find themselves at the home of Snow (yes, White). Just as Evil Evelyn, her wicked stepmother, is about to hand over the infamous poison apple, Jonah intervenes. But if Snow doesn't eat the poison apple, then the prince can't save her, and that means Snow's love life is ruined, not to mention Disney's whole movie. There's lots of hilarious artistic license here (three of the seven dwarfs are women; one has pink hair), along with unexpected plot twists and plenty of girl power. Tween girls who may not be quite ready for Donna Jo Napoli and Gail Carson Levine's fractured-fairy-tale novels will find this title is just right.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)