44. Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood
By Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Poppy, 2011

Genre
Fairy Tale

Awards
None Known

Review
Inspired by the movie of the same name that was released later in 2011, Red Riding Hood has many things: romance, mystery, paranormal (werewolves), and fanatic religious zeal.  The young heroine, a tomboy apparently unaware of good looks everyone else seems to notice, finds the idea of falling in love alluring but confusing, wondering if there's even a point to it if you don't marry the one you love or you stop loving the one you marry.  Not long into the book though, there is not one, but two, love interests for this fickle teenage: the blast from the past "bad boy" and the son of the wealthy blacksmith.  The town has been in an uneasy peace with a werewolf who they give livestock sacrifices to at the full moon.  Heroine Valerie witnesses a sacrifice being taken by the wolf when she was a child and it forever changed her.  She later is accused of witchcraft and offered as bait for the wolf when the uneasy peace was broken when he killed Valerie's sister.  This book is enticing for those who particularly enjoy supernatural romance, but has disappointing follow through with flat characters, a capricious heroine, and an incomplete plot.

Opinion
I enjoyed the idea behind this book, though it is not unique.  However, Valerie soon wore my patience thin.  Though being indecisive is a human trait, it is very overplayed and makes her a frustrating character.  Aside from her struggle with love, mixed with her sudden desires to be eternally alone or chase the werewolf on her own, she has no depth.  There is also no depth to the two love interests and the other villagers are just as flat.  Seemingly the person with the most character is the religious fanatic that comes into the story about half-way through.  There is a difference between an ending that wraps many things up but leaves a full conclusion to the imagination and an ending that is carelessly written, leaving many loose ends; unfortunately this book ended sloppily.

Ideas
This book is a good suggestion for those who like books similar to the Twilight Saga and other supernatural romances, but mostly I would suggest recommending something else.

21. Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep

Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep
By Carson Levine
Illustrated by Mark Elliott
HarperCollins, 1999

Genre
Fractured Fairy Tale, Humor

Awards
None Known

Review

Princess Sonora was blessed by a fairy to be 10x as smart as anyone in the world! But she was also cursed to fall asleep for 100 years when she pricked herself on a spinning needle.  Sonora decided that since she'd be sleeping so long later, there was no need for sleep now and spent her time reading all the books in the royal libraries.  She found answers to all the questions she could think of (and made sure she told everyone about them) and made more efficient ways for the servants to do their chores, but everyone just found her to be annoying.  Sonora's parents had found a prince for her to marry, but he was boring! Sonora decided that after his visit, she would prick herself by choice with a spindle hidden in her closet so she could fall asleep and avoid the marriage all together.  This plan didn't work and Sonora accidentally pricks herself while the prince is still in the castle, so he fell asleep along with Sonora and the rest of the castle.  An astonished shepherd saw the castle become covered in a wall of thorns.  Eventually, Prince Christopher, a descendant of Prince Melvin XX and had always been curious about everything, decided to investigate the “missing” kingdom.  He found Sonora asleep, covered in cobwebs.  After much debate of what to do, he decided to kiss her.  Naturally, Sonora woke up.  So happy to have found someone who can answer his questions, and happy she had found someone who wanted to hear her answers, the couple decided to get married.  This short but humorous retelling of Sleeping Beauty will make readers chuckle at the “intelligence” of Sonora and the reactions of other characters. There are illustrations every few chapters that add to the story and show significant occurrences.

Opinion
A very amusing retelling that younger tweens will like just for the blatant humor and older readers will enjoy for the way it makes fun of predictable fairy tale characters.

Ideas
This book is a great example of a fractured fairy tale and is a good way to introduce this genre to tweens, either in the classroom or at the library with a display.