The Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives
(The Sisters Grimm series, Book 1)
Michael Buckley
Amulet Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Since their parents vanished under mysterious circumstances over a year ago, eleven-year-old Sabrina Grimm and her younger sister Daphne have bounced from one miserable foster home to another. Now, the social workers claim they have actually located a living relative, Esmerelda Grimm, in the sleepy rural town of Ferryport Landing... only their father insisted that "Granny Relda" died long ago. Sabrina thought she'd die of boredom in Ferryport Landing before escaping Relda, whom she sees to be yet another illegitimate and unfit guardian - that is, until bedtime stories start springing to life around them and Granny Relda reveals their own ties to the famed Brothers Grimm. They were not so much story collectors as detectives, whose famed books were mostly case files of their investigations into magical creatures. Now, Sabrina and Daphne must plunge headfirst into dangers straight out of a fairy tale if they're to have any chance of living long enough to find out if their own story ends happily ever after.
REVIEW: At first blush, it may seem like it's been done to death: modern kids discover old-time magic's alive and well in a backwater town, and find themselves up to their necks in danger before they can say Rumplestiltskin. On some levels, perhaps it has been done several times before, but not the way Buckley does it. He offers some very interesting takes on modern-day fairy tale characters, whom the kids loved when they were words on the page but often find far less charming in the waking world. I actually wished he'd kicked the writing up to a higher grade level so he could explore these takes in more depth; as it is, I don't feel the plot adequately served the setup. However, I'm inclined to be a bit lenient, as it admits that it's the start of a longer series. Perhaps as the kids do some maturing, the story will take on a little more depth.
You might also enjoy:
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into a world where magic and elder gods still rule)
Dragons Wild (Robert Asprin, Fantasy - A slacker college graduate learns that dragons still exist... and that he is one)
Peter Pan (James M. Barrie, YA Fiction - The boy who refuses to grow up leads three English children to the magical island of Neverland)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - Young Dorothy Gale, swept up by a tornado, lands in a strange and magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - A boy finds a faerie prince in the garden)
Finder (Emma Bull, YA Fiction - In Bordertown, the lines between mundane Earth and the magical fairy realms blur)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, wherein a young English girl has curious adventures amongst even curiouser company)
The Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - A boy criminal mastermind deduces the existence of the underground fairy nation, and sets his sights on fairy gold)
The Magic Shop books (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - Children with problems find their way to a strange magic shop)
Hatching Magic (Ann Downer, YA Fiction - A modern Boston girl unexpectedly crosses paths with a medieval wizard's tame wyvern)
Knight's Castle (Edward Eager, YA Fiction - Four children find stories springing to life around them after one of them makes a careless wish)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - An angry act of vandalism plunges a boy into the invisible war between London's statues and gargoyles)
Dragon Rider (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - Threatened by modern Man's encroachment, a dragon seeks a legendary sanctuary in the Himalayas with a brownie and an orphan boy)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A girl's bookbinder father can read people out of storybooks... and possibly read people into them)
Librarian: Little Boy Lost (Eric Hobbs, YA Fiction - A bookish boy discovers secrets and dangers in a mysterious library)
The Book of Story Beginnings (Kristin Kladstrup, YA Fiction - Starting stories in a strange notebook forces children to live through the tales, start to finish)
Eccentric Circles (Rebecca Lickiss, Fiction - A woman finds a fairy land through the back door of her inherited cottage)
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (Patricia McKillip, Fiction - A sorcerer's daughter lives in isolation among legendary Beasts gathered by her late father)
The Unhandsome Prince (John Moore, Fiction - A determined young woman finds and frees a prince under a frog spell, but his homely face may be a deal-breaker)
Fablehaven (Brandon Mull, YA Fiction - Kids discover a magical sanctuary on their grandparent's farm)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three soon-to-be-famed authors travel to the Archipelago of Dreams, inspiration for story and myth since Time began)
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series (Rick Riordan, YA Fiction - A boy learns that his father was a Greek god)
The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling, YA Fiction - An orphaned boy learns of the hidden Wizarding world and its wonders when he discovers his magical heritage)
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm (Tad Williams and Deborah Beale, YA Fiction - Two children find unusual animals on their great-uncle's farm)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds)
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The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects
(The Sisters Grimm series, Book 2)
Micheal Buckley
Amulet Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Sabrina and Daphne Grimm survived their first trial by fire in the family business of fairy tale investigations, but now the girls face an even greater challenge: their first day of school. Changing schools is bad enough, but in the small town of Ferryport Landing, their teachers are as likely as not to be centuries-old figures from legend and lore. Sabrina, for one, has had just about enough of the Everafters, as these immortal figures call themselves. After all, Everafters were behind the abduction of her parents, and the Everafters of Ferryport Landing have a special axe to grind with the Grimm line: long ago, their ancestor, with the help of a powerful witch, created a barrier around the town and surrounding countryside to protect their endangered magic from the encroaching mundane world (and vice versa), a barrier which keeps them from leaving and which will only fall when the last Grimm relation dies. On her first day of sixth grade, Sabrina's anger seems perfectly justified, as one of her teachers is found dead in his own classroom, clearly the victim of a wholly unnatural Everafter monster. As the young Grimm sisters track down a brutal murderer, they uncover a horrific plot and perhaps a lead on the Scarlet Hand, the secret Everafter organization that stole their mother and father.
REVIEW: The pace and humor of the first book carry through this second volume, though (as expected and hoped) some of the darker tones come more to the forefront. Sabrina has to confront her own shortcomings as they threaten to endanger the investigation and their lives, while the Everafters themselves continue to offer interesting, often humorous yet surprisingly thoughtful takes on fairy tale characters. As a warning, the ending is a cliffhanger.
You might also enjoy:
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into a world where magic and elder gods still rule)
Dragons Wild (Robert Asprin, Fantasy - A slacker college graduate learns that dragons still exist... and that he is one)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - Young Dorothy Gale, swept up by a tornado, lands in a strange and magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - A boy finds a faerie prince in the garden)
Finder (Emma Bull, YA Fiction - In Bordertown, the lines between mundane Earth and the magical fairy realms blur)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, wherein a young English girl has curious adventures amongst even curiouser company)
The Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - A boy criminal mastermind deduces the existence of the underground fairy nation, and sets his sights on fairy gold)
The Magic Shop books (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - Children with problems find their way to a strange magic shop)
Hatching Magic (Ann Downer, YA Fiction - A modern Boston girl unexpectedly crosses paths with a medieval wizard's tame wyvern)
Knight's Castle (Edward Eager, YA Fiction - Four children find stories springing to life around them after one of them makes a careless wish)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - An angry act of vandalism plunges a boy into the invisible war between London's statues and gargoyles)
Dragon Rider (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - Threatened by modern Man's encroachment, a dragon seeks a legendary sanctuary in the Himalayas with a brownie and an orphan boy)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A girl's bookbinder father can read people out of storybooks... and possibly read people into them)
Librarian: Little Boy Lost (Eric Hobbs, YA Fiction - A bookish boy discovers secrets and dangers in a mysterious library)
The Book of Story Beginnings (Kristin Kladstrup, YA Fiction - Starting stories in a strange notebook forces children to live through the tales, start to finish)
Eccentric Circles (Rebecca Lickiss, Fiction - A woman finds a fairy land through the back door of her inherited cottage)
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (Patricia McKillip, Fiction - A sorcerer's daughter lives in isolation among legendary Beasts gathered by her late father)
The Unhandsome Prince (John Moore, Fiction - A determined young woman finds and frees a prince under a frog spell, but his homely face may be a deal-breaker)
Fablehaven (Brandon Mull, YA Fiction - Kids discover a magical sanctuary on their grandparent's farm)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three soon-to-be-famed authors travel to the Archipelago of Dreams, inspiration for story and myth since Time began)
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series (Rick Riordan, YA Fiction - A boy learns that his father was a Greek god)
The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling, YA Fiction - An orphaned boy learns of the hidden Wizarding world and its wonders when he discovers his magical heritage)
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm (Tad Williams and Deborah Beale, YA Fiction - Two children find unusual animals on their great-uncle's farm)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds)
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