A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales

April 30, 2012
It’s hard not to love a book dedicated to the Glee star’s grandmother, who gave him this early advice: “Christopher, I think you should wait until you’re done with elementary school before worrying about being a failed writer.” In this entertaining if a bit overlong first novel, 12-year-old twins Alex (a girl) and Conner fall into their grandmother’s cherished book of stories and arrive in fairy tale land. The only way to get home is a convoluted scavenger hunt that requires them to collect eight tokens from various fairy tales—Cinderella’s glass slipper, a lock of Rapunzel’s hair, etc. The ending is never in doubt, but it’s a difficult journey as the twins meet the Big Bad Wolf Pack, are enslaved by trolls, and kidnapped by Snow White’s evil stepmother. Colfer gets off many good lines—Conner’s dialogue especially sounds like quips Kurt Hummel might make, as when the twins swim across an icy moat: “Wooo! It’s so cold, I think we may be twin sisters now.” The nifty ending ties the plot’s multiple strands up while leaving room for further fairy tale adventures. Ages 8–up. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative Management.

October 29, 2012
When twins Alex and Conner receive a fairy tale collection for their 12th birthday, the brother and sister are soon sucked inside the book’s pages. They find themselves in a world where Happily Ever After already happened, where the Big Bad Wolf’s pack is hell-bent on vengeance, Snow White’s wicked queen has escaped incarceration, and Red Riding Hood has ascended to her own kingdom. In narrating his own book, Colfer—of Glee fame—lacks the charisma he so frequently displays on television, and is outmatched by the book’s large cast of fairy tale characters. Snow White, the Evil Queen, Goldilocks, Alex, Conner, and most everyone else sound too similar: all of them reduced to a low, throaty whisper. Additionally, Colfer’s narration is almost indistinguishable from the voices he creates for his characters. This is particularly unfortunate because his book is filled with larger-than-life characters—requiring a dramatic and larger-than-life performance. Ages 8–up. A Little, Brown hardcover.