Though the temperature was near 90 this morning, I think I was suffereing from frostbite and hypothermia as I wandered with Hazel through the frozen woods of BREADCRUMBS (Walden Pond Press, October 2011) in search of her lost friend Jack. Hazel and Jack have been friends for years. They have dived into a wading pool filled with ice to beat summer heat; they have jousted with plastic swords. In short, they always are together. They help one another through the dark times. But now, something has changed. Jack gets something in his eye one day on the playground, and before long he wants nothing to do with Hazel. As she is trying to cope with this heart-shattering event, Jack simply disappears. Hazel heads off into the woods off the sledding hill, the last place Jack was seen. It will be a journey that will test her in many ways. <390>
Here is a book that is firmly set in the real world but that wanders into the land of fairy tales easily without skipping a beat. This retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's THE SNOW QUEEN also includes references to texts as far ranging as WHEN YOU REACH ME, and CORALINE with mention of Narnia and Dictionopolis. Other fairy tales leave traces (THE RED SHOES is memorable) as well. What sets this apart, though, is the lyricism of the language. Here is a small example from Chapter Nine: "Trees stretched up into the darkening sky like yearning giants, their thick branches contorted and mean from reaching out for something they could never grasp" (p. 109). The possible ladder rungs for this might include:
CLOAKED and BEASTLY by Flinn
THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING by Valente
NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY by Boyne
RECKLESS by Funke
BEAST, CRAZY JACK, SPINNERS by Donna Jo Napoli
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