Rapunzel's Revenge

Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale. 2008. Ill. Nathan Hale. Rapunzel's Revenge . New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury.

Plot summary:

Once upon a time there lived a young girl named Rapunzel in a castle with her mother. But, her mother wasn't really her mother. And, the castle wasn't all it was cracked up to be, so the young girl got bored and tried to escape. Her mother, who wasn't her mother, didn't like that her darling daughter, who isn't her daughter, tried to escape and banished her to a small room at the top of a tree and cursed her with hair that grew and grew and grew. Sounds sort of familiar, right? Wrong! This smart young girl doesn't need anyone to save her! She uses her hair as rope and the adventure begins with one more caveat: this isn't some magical fairytale castle world, it's the wild west where the hero is a horse thief, Mother Gothel puts a price on Rapunzel, and Rapunzel is determined to get rid of Mother Gothel.

Critical Review:

First and foremost, Rapunzel's Revenge is a graphic novel, one of the better ones I've read. The illustrations and incorporation of text make this novel engrossing, interesting, and, at times, hysterical because Rapunzel's Revenge takes the Rapunzel myth and turns it on its head. Hale's illustration (by the way, the illustrator is NOT related to the authors) flow through the story using detail and color effectively to convey the action and the setting. Hale makes the setting look both beautiful and desolate in turns, which reinforces that this is not the typical Rapunzel story.

Rapunzel herself is quite different. Disney's recent portrayal of Rapunzel in Tangled (which, right now, is both my daughter's and son's favorite movie), showed her to be somewhat courageous, but mostly dependent (on a man), and, in my opinion, slightly air headed. Yes, she saves her life and Flynn's, but ultimately, she needs Flynn. This Rapunzel is none of those things. She frees herself, defends herself, and doesn't need a Flynn to save her. Instead, she saves the boy this time; a boy named Jack with a goose (that lays an egg...Mother Goose anyone?) and they team up to return to Gothel's castle in order to defeat her, free Rapunzel's real mother, and end Gothel's harsh rule of the land.

The story of Rapunzel and Jack's return to Gothel is complicated by kidnappers, villains, wild dogs, and more. They also save other people and villages along the way back to Gothel, which again, reinforces how different this Rapunzel really is from the Rapunzel myth because she does the fighting instead of relying on luck and a man to fight for her.

The hardest part of this book is letting go of the typical Rapunzel and becoming part of this Rapunzel myth, but this story is so appealingly different that letting go of the blonde-haired, girly-girl princess Rapunzel doesn't take more than the first few pages. This red-haired, smart as a whip, creative, courageous Rapunzel who takes no prisoners or guff from anyone is a refreshing break from the Tangled Rapunzel. She's not a tomboy, and she's not a princess, but she is a mix of the two. This Rapunzel balances the best of female heroines.

Happily-ever-after comes at the end of the adventure. Rapunzel frees her mother, gets rid of Gothel, kisses the boy and lives happily-ever-after in this book, but what a different ride (literally) to get to the happily-ever-after.

What I loved about Rapunzel's Revenge is that after having the Disney version shoved down my throat nearly everyday for the last several months (because I am a sucker and let my children whine and cajole their way into watching the movie constantly), I found a Rapunzel I could admire and one I can show my daughter to show her that Rapunzel doesn't always need to be saved. Sometimes, Rapunzel saves herself and a lot of other people, too.

Review Excerpts:

"Starred Review. Grade 5 Up–This is the tale as you've never seen it before. After using her hair to free herself from her prison tower, this Rapunzel ignores the pompous prince and teams up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) in an attempt to free her birth mother and an entire kingdom from the evil witch who once moonlighted as her mother. Dogged by both the witch's henchman and Jack's outlaw past, the heroes travel across the map as they right wrongs, help the oppressed, and generally try to stay alive. Rapunzel is no damsel in distress–she wields her long braids as both rope and weapon–but she happily accepts Jack's teamwork and friendship. While the witch's castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive." Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, New York Public Library, School Library Journal

"This graphic novel retelling of the fairy-tale classic, set in a swashbuckling Wild West, puts action first and features some serious girl power in its spunky and strong heroine. Young Rapunzel lives a lonely life, never knowing what lies beyond the high garden walls of her mother’s royal villa until one day she climbs the wall to see what’s on the other side. When she finds that the world outside is a dark place oppressed by her mother’s greed for power and uncovers the real secret of her own birth, she is imprisoned in a magic tree tower. In her years of captivity, she learns a lot about self-reliance and care for her exceptionally long hair, and eventually she is able to escape, vowing to bring down her mother’s cruel empire. Hale’s art matches the story well, yielding expressive characters and lending a wonderful sense of place to the fantasy landscape." Tina Coleman, Booklist

Awards:

ALA Notable Children's Book (ALA)

Amelia Bloomer Project Selection (ALA)

Cybils Award (Graphic Novels)

Great Graphic Novels for Teens (YALSA)

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (YALSA)

Connections:

This is a book I would love to see someone do a brown paper bag book report over just to see what all they put inside the bag. I would put a crown, a lock of hair braided into a rope, a horse, a witch, and Jessie from Toy Story 2 (simply because that's the only cowgirl in our house and the red hair would fit!).

A comparison and discussion of the Rapunzel myths would be appropriate after reading this tale of Rapunzel.

The Graveyard Book

Citation note: I am not entirely sure how to cite how I "read" this book. Here is the book citation:

Gaiman, Neil. 2008. Ill. Dave McKean. The Graveyard Book . New York: Harper.

However, I listened to the book at MouseCircus, read by the author himself. The citation for the website is below:

Gaiman, Neil. "Neil Gaiman’s MouseCircus.com | The Graveyard Book Video Tour Readings." MouseCircus.com Home – The Official Neil Gaiman Website for Young Readers. http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx (accessed August 8, 2011)

Plot Summary:

On a terrible night, the man Jack slaughters an entire family with one exception: the toddler boy who slipped out the door and into a graveyard. With his family murdered and no one around to raise him but in a graveyard full of ghosts, the ghosts take the boy into their "home" (the cemetery), give him a name, Nobody "Bod" Owens, and do their best to raise him.

Critical review:

The Graveyard Book is not your typical children's tale of family, friends, hearth, and home. The book begins with the terrible murders of Bod's family at the hands of the man Jack. There goes the typical, nuclear family! Bod unwittingly escapes Jack by crawling out the front door and ends up in a graveyard where the ghosts basically adopt him. Mr. and Mrs. Owens become Bod's parents and Silas, a character who is neither living nor dead but inhabits the graveyard, serves as a bridge between the living world and the graveyard world for Bod.

Inside the graveyard, Bod learns from Silas, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, and the other inhabitants, but like any child, Bod longs to explore his world outside the graveyard. Though he is forbidden, like all children forbidden something, it becomes sweet, and Bod travels, briefly, outside the only "home" he's ever known. Along his adventure, he befriends a young girl and he meets the man that killed his family. For a brief time, Silas consents to allow Bod to attend school because, like all children, Bod has a desire to learn and understand, but that turns into a disaster because Bod really knows nothing of how the world is outside the graveyard.

The irony of this book is that the graveyard is safe for Bod. It is his home. It is not scary; it is not the stuff of horror stories even though it IS the stuff of horror stories. In it, Bod has parents, friends his own age, a community, and even a mentor. Outside the graveyard lurks the man Jack whose determination is to finish the job he started so long ago. Bod's life is under constant threat from Jack. But, Bod learns not to fear death or the unknown, even the impossible, because he is surrounded by it all everyday he lives in the graveyard. He learns ghostly talents (how to fade, for example) just as he learns his ABCs and 1, 2, 3's. The mixing of the natural with the supernatural in what should be a frightening setting is the irony: The setting is not frightening and the supernatural is the natural...for Bod, anyway.

As he grows, Bod must come to terms with the fact that he cannot continue to live, forever, in the graveyard. Once the threat posed by Jack has been dealt with, by Bod, and Bod can leave the graveyard, he still stays. It is safe, familiar, and it is where his family and home are. As much as he loves the life he has in the graveyard, another problem arises: time. As time passes and Bod grows up to a young man, he finds himself having trouble seeing the ghosts and wanting to experience life beyond his home and family, as all children are supposed to do.

While Bod's family is trapped in the graveyard, Bod is not, and in the end, Bod chooses to leave and grow up, exploring the possibilities available to him as part of the living world and not the ghostly, graveyard world. The Graveyard Book is a coming-of-age story, seemingly unconventional, yet totally conventional. The backdrop of the graveyard, instead of serving to frighten Bod, serves to enlighten Bod: the ghosts are dead; he is not, but obviously, life is finite and growing up surrounded by the dead enforces the preciousness and shortness of life. It is a carpe diem story of the best kind because the message is so understated, as all good themes should be.

Review Excerpts:

"Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting." Megan Honig, New York Public Library, School Library Journal

"*Starred Review* While a highly motivated killer murders his family, a baby, ignorant of the horrific goings-on but bent on independence, pulls himself out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into the night. This is most unfortunate for the killer, since the baby was his prime target. Finding his way through the barred fence of an ancient graveyard, the baby is discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a stable and caring couple with no children of their own—and who just happen to be dead. After much debate with the graveyard’s rather opinionated denizens, it is decided that the Owenses will take in the child. Under their care and the sponsorship of the mysterious Silas, the baby is named “Nobody” and raised among the dead to protect him from the killer, who relentlessly pursues him. This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters. There is plenty of darkness, but the novel’s ultimate message is strong and life affirming." Holly Koelling, Booklist

Awards:

2009 Newbery Medal Winner
2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel
2009 Locus Award
2010 Carnegie Medal

Connections:

First off, this book begs to be read aloud or listened to, and there is no better source than MouseCircus for this book. Those who choose this route can listen to the author read the book and answer questions about it. Discovering this website was a delight to me because it was such a unique way of using an "audiobook."

Many readers/listeners who enjoy The Graveyard Book should also look at Gaiman's other works, particularly Coraline if they enjoyed the Gothic atmosphere of The Graveyard Book.

The Graveyard Book would make a really interesting Reader's Theater. I would love to see an upper elementary school or middle school class/group of kids do something like it with the book.

Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse. 1999. Speak. 10th anniversary edition ed. New York City: Square Fish.

Plot Summary:

After calling the police the night of the "big" summer party, Melinda finds herself an outcast as she enters 9th grade. Everyone considers Melinda a social pariah who ruined everyone's fun. What everyone doesn't know is what happened to Melinda that night in the woods to make her call the police.

Critical Review:

Speak is the story of Melinda's first year of high school and tracks her academic progress at school through the reporting of each marking period. Once a good student with several friends, Melinda becomes quiet, actually selectively mute, and withdrawn. Melinda's former friends turn their backs on her and her new classmates make everyday a living hell for her because she's the girl who called the cops to the end of the summer party. No one knows why Melinda called the police; everyone assumes she did it to be a jerk, but the simple fact is that Melinda was slightly drunk and raped by an older classmate, but she told no one what happened.

Melinda does what many rape survivors do and keeps quiet, and the silence she imposes on herself and the struggle to keep what happened to herself begins to eat at her, especially when she's forced to see IT, as she refers to the senior who raped her. With the inability to cope with what happened to her and no one to really talk to, Melinda acts out. Her parents are self-absorbed in their jobs and don't notice until she becomes a problem for them. Melinda becomes depressed, skips classes, and toys with cutting. The only class she rarely, if ever, skips is art because in art, she can explore the feelings eating her up inside as she struggles to complete her year long project: Making a tree become art by relaying emotion through her impression of a tree. Her first attempt, using bones and a body-less Barbie, has her teacher pronounce that it shows pain. Considering the emotional pain Melinda endures everyday, it is unsurprising that pain is the emotion conveyed by her art.

Melinda's art class also gives her a chance to reconnect with a girl she had been friends with in middle school. Ivy slowly reaches out to Melinda throughout the book as they both struggle in art class (Ivy has a fear of clowns and her year old project involves clowns.).

In the end, Speak is not just about surviving rape. It is about finding your voice, which Melinda does towards the end of the book when her former best friend begins dating IT. Speak is about high school and surviving the cruelty and alienation high schoolers inflict on each other. At one point in Speak, Melinda makes the comment that becoming an adult is the reward for surviving high school and the reward better be worth it. As a high school teacher, I see examples of the cruelty kids use against each other, I remember what it was like to be in high school, and while I know surviving high school was worth becoming an adult, I worry about the experience my students have and that my own children will have. And, the experiences Melinda has make Speak. It isn't just the assault that she survives and overcomes. It's how Melinda grows from all the experiences she has. Melinda's emotions are never hidden as she goes from experience to experience. Readers truly see her pain, her anger, her amusement, her derision, her fear, and her loneliness.

Review Excerpts:

"Divided into the four marking periods of an academic year, the novel, narrated by Melinda Sordino, begins on her first day as a high school freshman. No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. A girl at a school pep rally offers an explanation of the heroine's pariah status when she confronts Melinda about calling the police at a summer party, resulting in several arrests. But readers do not learn why Melinda made the call until much later: a popular senior raped her that night and, because of her trauma, she barely speaks at all. Only through her work in art class, and with the support of a compassionate teacher there, does she begin to reach out to others and eventually find her voice." Publishers Weekly

"A frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life, as real as today's headlines. At the end of the summer before she enters high school, Melinda attends a party at which two bad things happen to her. She gets drunk, and she is raped. Shocked and scared, she calls the police, who break up the party and send everyone home. She tells no one of her rape, and the other students, even her best friends, turn against her for ruining their good time. By the time school starts, she is completely alone, and utterly desolate. She withdraws more and more into herself, rarely talking, cutting classes, ignoring assignments, and becoming more estranged daily from the world around her. Few people penetrate her shell; one of them is Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, who works with her to help her express what she has so deeply repressed. " Kirkus Reviews

Awards:

ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Top-10 Best Book for Young Adults
Michael L. Printz Honor Book (American Library Association)
National Book Award Finalist

Connections:

LSU has a lesson plan for teaching Speak in a 9th grade honors class that has the students do several of the activities Melinda did in school (research suffragates, choose something to depict in art, etc.)

The National Council of Teachers of English has a podcast interview with Laurie Halse Anderson in which she relates a poem she wrote on the 10th anniversary of Speak. The podcast itself is mostly about Wintergirls, another novel of survival (the main character has an eating disorder) written by Anderson.