Fables&Wren

The Princess Tales #06: The Fairy’s Return

/ 04 STARS, GCL YR THE PRINCESS TALES

The Fairy's Return Book Cover The Fairy's Return
The Princess Tales
Gail Carson Levine
Juvenile Fiction
Harper Collins
October 8, 2002
Paperback
112

Boy meets princess, and it's love at first sight. Both laugh at the same jokes. Both are named after birds. His name is Robin, hers is Lark. Could there ever have been a more perfect match? But alas! King Harrumphrey won't let Lark marry a baker's son. And Robin is betrothed to someone else. Now toss in Robin's nonsense-talking brothers, Nat and Matt, their versifying father, and Ethelinda, the fairy who wrought havoc in The Fairy's Mistake, and you've got a "nutcrazical" situation! A hilarious spoof on "The Golden Goose" by the Brothers Grimm, The Fairy's Return is the sixth Princess Tale from beloved Newbery Honor author and master fairy tale reteller Gail Carson Levine.

WrensReads Review:

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more.

“King Harrumphrey tapped the scroll. “Not that ‘any harrumph.’”
The scribe wrote noble in tiny letters to the left of man.
The king was getting annoyed. “Not ‘any harrumphman.’ ‘Any harrumph.’”
– For Biddle’s Sake by Gail Carson Levine

Just by this part of the book, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained. In this instance, she has a king that replaces words with harrumph and expects people to know what he means.

The Fairy’s Return, a fairy-tale based on the German fairy-tale The Goose Girl by Brothers Grimm, is about a little princess and a baker’s son who fall in love. The baker’s son [Robin] never gets to finish a job with his two word-inventing brothers and rhymer father. The Princess [Lark] never gets to play a game fairly because everyone is afraid to let her fail at one.

King Harrumphrey will not let her marry Robin when he finally treats her like a real person. The baker will not let Robin marry Lark when she listens and laughs at all his jokes.

The king decided to hold a contest for all the princes to come make her laugh! So Princess Lark thinks of sad things to make herself cry for days because of her love for Robin.

Fairy Ethelinda [remember her from ‘The Fairy’s Mistake?!] gifts Robin with a golden goose after a series of events. That won’t accomplish his dream to marry the princess, but it is a start…

Will Fairy Ethelinda get over her fear of gifting/curing people? Will Robin have to marry the innkeeper’s third daughter Golly? Will Lark laugh at an unexpected prince and be forced to marry him? Will Robin ever finish a joke with his family? Will Lark ever be treated as a normal person? Will the end up happily ever after? Will the goose ever get a break?

Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.

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Perks of Being a Wallflower

/ 04 STARS, SCHBOSKY NOVELS YA AR

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Book Cover The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
Fiction
MTV Books
February 1, 1999
Paperback
224

Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic. The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. A #1 New York Times best seller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.

WrensReads Review:

I read this book for the first time in 2015 (so when I am writing this) and sadly, it was after I watched the movie. But I like both the book and the movie. The book gives you a different feel though. You are getting letters from a young boy trying to weave his way through the horror that is high school (seriously, horror).

There aren’t chapters, but parts. Each part as a series of letters about a different important part of his first year in high school. He gets new friends, Patrick and Sam, he gets in fights with his sister, his first kiss, his first time dealing with drugs and/or alcohol, etc.

Charlie is loveable and all around the reason why you keep reading this book. He is innocent and honest and has an intense depth of intelligence.

If you are looking for a book with an intense plot, then you need to keep looking. Really the interesting thing about this book is the way Charlie thinks and how he reacts to things. He isn’t sure why he reacts to some things at a very intense level. He is blunt to a point that it will make you laugh. Death, gay, sexual assault, sex, love, drugs, anger, secrets: these are all a part of this book and I would recommend this book to anyone no matter what their age is.

It’s an eye opener.

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The Princess Tales #05: For Biddle’s Sake

/ 04 STARS, GCL YR THE PRINCESS TALES

For Biddle's Sake Book Cover For Biddle's Sake
The Princess Tales
Gail Carson Levine
Juvenile Fiction
Harper Collins
October 8, 2002
Paperback
112

There she was, chartreuse and warty and smiling at him. Such a nice smile. Something in his heart fluttered. The young maiden, Parsley, will eat nothing but parsley, which in Snettering-on-Snoakes grows only in the fairy Bombina's garden. All is well -- until Bombina is released from the fairy queen's dungeon. Her crime? Failing to get along with humans. And turning them into toads! Meanwhile, twin princes Randolph and Rudolph are causing trouble at Biddle Castle and pinning everything on their younger brother, Tansy. Prince Tansy cares about Biddle. Randolph and Rudolph don't. But one of the twins will be king, unless Prince Tansy accepts help from a green Biddlebum Toad! A delightful retelling of the little-known German fairy tale "Puddocky," this fifth Princess Tale from Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shows that nothing is quite as it seems and that anything is possible, with a dash of magic and a barrel of love.

WrensReads Review:

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more.

“Meanwhile, Parsley grew into a plump, happy child with a lovely smile, in spite of teeth that were stained pale green [from only eating Parsley].”
– For Biddle’s Sake by Gail Carson Levine

Just by the first chapter, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained.

For Biddle’s Sake, a fairy-tale based on the German fairy-tale Puddocky by Brothers Grimm, is about a little girl who goes to live with a fairy that has pale-green teeth. The fairy she lives with has a very short temper, and ends up turning Parsley into a toad [the fairy’s favorite thing to turn people into].

Tansy is the king’s son. He has two older brothers [twins] that always blame him for destroying precious kingdom items. They never agree and never listen to poor Tansy.

The king decided to hold a contest for the two older sons to decide who gets the crown. Tansy is sympathetically thrown into the mix. He meets a nice toad that helps him with the contest.

Will Parsley always be a toad? Will she master her magic? Will the fairy ever see Parsley smile again? Will Tansy ever get his brother’s to listen? Will he get the crown?

Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.

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