Flights of Fancy

CAN'T SCARE ME by Ashley Bryan. Atheneum, 2013.

He's ever afraid
Until three headed giant
Threatens to eat him.

WHEN EDGAR MET CECIL by Kevin Luthardt. Peachtree, 2013.

Edgar's in a new school.
He makes a new friend, Cecil.
They become buddies.

PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. Aladdin, 2013.

Golden underpants
Are the treasure pirates seek
Beautiful bounty.

Rapunzel by any other name

TOWERING by Alex Flinn. HarperCollins, 2013.

Flinn offers another take on traditional stories in this version of Rapunzel. Alternating narrators, Rachel and Wyatt, are two teens, one whose guardian has locked her away in a tower to protect her from men who would want to see her dead. Wyatt comes to stay with a woman whose daughter was his mother’s high school friend. Wyatt is running from a traumatic event in his own life. He feels that perhaps he can begin to deal with his tragic loss if he simply escapes from his usual haunts. Wyatt soon discovers a secret that leads him ultimately to the imprisoned Rachel. While TOWERING is set in a very real world, there are many elements of the fairy world that heighten the suspense and take the story on lots of twists and turns. Romance, ghosts, and of course, the hair. Teens will welcome this reconsideration of Rapunzel.