Monday, February 25, 2013

Whatever After: Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski

Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski is the first book in new fantasy series for middle-grade readers.

When no-nonsense fifth-grader Abby and her little brother Jonah are sucked into the ornate mirror in their basement, they find themselves in the world of fairy tales. They soon stumble across a quaint cottage, just in time to stop a young woman from taking a poisoned apple from an old witch. But what they don't realize at the time is that, by changing Snow White's story, they may have robbed her of her happy ending. Abby is determined to make it right, no matter what that entails -- which is how she, Jonah, and Snow White end up hanging out with the seven dwarfs, climbing trees to avoid Prince Charming, and sneaking around the evil witch's castle. Will they be able to fix Snow White's story . . . and still make it home before their parents start to worry?

This was a cute enough story, but it never really engaged me. I think it's one of those children's books best left to actual children. I'll recommend it to them, but adults looking for fairy tale retellings should probably look elsewhere.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)

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