It’s about time for a Cybils review of something I love unreservedly… and fortunately, here it is! Rapunzel’s Revenge has the somewhat unlikely premise of Rapunzel set in an alternate magical Wild West, but it totally works.
The wicked witch is a greedy landowner whose growth magic allows her to run a slave mine and extort ruinous taxes on everyone around. She wanted Rapunzel to be her heir (I almost typed “hair” — heh), but when Rapunzel turns out to have a mind of her own, Gothel abandons her in a tower. Rapunzel escapes on her own, using her own hair, and sets off to free her real mother from Gothel’s mines and “teach Gothel a lesson.”
I loved everything about this book, from the clean, friendly art, to the funny one-liners (Rapunzel ribs her new friend Jack, “You have a lucky bean?” to which he replies, “You have twenty feet of hair?”), to Rapunzel and Jack’s good-hearted and sometimes accidental bravery. Rapunzel kicks bad-guy ass with her hair whip, while Jack is the mouth of the operation, talking them out of (and often into) trouble.
Can’t wait for the sequel!
ETA: Also reviewed by my co-panelists Fuse #8 and Liz Jones Books.
2 responses so far ↓
1 ruthling // Nov 1, 2008 at 4:23 pm
it’s like the Jim’s Big Ego song “Prince Charming”
:)
2 Sam // Nov 1, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Hee! It totally is. (Though sadly she at no point flips the wicked witch the finger. I guess you can’t really do that in a kids’ book. :) )
Leave a Comment