Whatever After Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski –OPTIONAL

Mlynowski, Sarah Whatever After Fairest of All 176 pgs. Scholastic Press, 2012 (May). $10.08. (Language-G Violence-G; Sexual Content-G). Abby and her little brother Jonah move into a new house and end up going through a mirror in the basement, and finding themselves somewhere else entirely. They discover pretty quickly that they are in the fairy tale of Snow White and they have messed up the plot. Will they stay and fix it or try to leave while they still can? Although a ton of effort went into giving Abby a great personality, it wasn’t enough for me to make up for the lack of creativity. I appreciate the concept of retelling classic stories, but only if it makes them better or more understandable. In this case, corrupting this story with a dose of reality took away all the gilding and left me feeling a bit empty. Sort of like if the characters that walk around Disney took off their masks. EL –OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate & Author.