Book Summary:
Similar to other Rapunzel stories, there is a girl trapped by someone who claims to be her mother. However, this story has a western theme and she isn't trapped in a tower, but there are walls separating her villa from the rest of the world. She lives in a rich environment and is well cared for, but she feels like something is missing and not right in her life, she wants to know what is happening beyond the walls to make sense of these dreams she keeps having that shake her. She scales the wall and finds an environment she did not expect, one that is very different from the place she lives. She meets her real mother and finds out her real story and
APA Reference of Book:
Hale, D. & Hale, S. (2008). Rapunzel's revenge. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Children's Books.
Impressions:
I wonder if my impressions of this story are silly, but there are a couple of instances where I thought: that's not good to teach children! like when Jack threw scissors to Rapunzel and she caught them, I was thinking: she could have been stabbed! Of course there were a lot of dangerous situations in this book, so it may be okay to throw scissors in a dangerous situation. I mean, there's magic involved, so... other than things like that I always enjoy fantasy adaptations. I love that Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel kind of collided and worked together. I feel as though everything was rather quick at some points, like with the pick axe they were rewarded 'Inga' and said it breaks unbreakable things, and then they said 'thanks' and moved along. Also, in the end, as they were trying to wrap it up I suppose. Rapunzel just mentioned to the townspeople something like 'hey Gothel's gone now so...' and there was a bit of cheering. I like how she decides to keep Rapunzel as a name she is called by even though she learned her real name, Anna. She decides to keep her past instead of run away from it even though it was negative, which is something I have issues with, so that actually left a really good impression for me. The action happened rather early in this book, they did not hesitate. It is hard for me to not compare this to Disney's Tangled. I like how this Rapunzel handled the 'prince' who came to 'save' her. Jack is similar to Flynn Ryder, and Rapunzel's tower was similar. Her hair and nails grew only because she was in that tower and the 'growth magic' Gothel had. Also, this Rapunzel being able to lasso her hair when she braids it makes more sense than Disney's. I think this was an interesting graphic novel, just not my favorite.
Professional Review:
* Rapunzel's Revenge Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illus. by Nathan Hale. Bloomsbury, $14.99 (144p) paper ISBN 978-1-59990-288-3; $18.99 hc ISBN 978-1-59990-070-4
The popular author of Princess Academy teams with her husband and illustrator Hale (no relation) for a muscular retelling of the famously long-haired heroine's story, set in a fairy-tale version of the Wild West. The Hales' Rapunzel, the narrator, lives like royalty with witchy Mother Gothel, but defies orders, scaling villa walls to see what's outside--a shocking wasteland of earth-scarring mines and smoke-billowing towers. She recognizes a mine worker from a recurrent dream: it's her birth mother, from whom she was taken as punishment for her father's theft from Mother G.'s garden. Their brief reunion sets the plot in motion. Mother G. banishes Rapunzel to a forest treehouse, checking annually for repentance, which never comes. Rapunzel uses her brick-red braids first to escape, then like Indiana Jones with his whip, to knock out the villains whom she and her new sidekick, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), encounter as they navigate hostile territory to free Rapunzel's morn from peril. Illustrator Hale's detailed, candy-colored artwork demands close viewing, as it carries the action--Rapunzel's many scrapes are nearly wordless. With its can-do heroine, witty dialogue and romantic ending, this graphic novel has something for nearly everybody. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
[Review of the book Rapunzel's Revenge, by S. Hale & D. Hale]. (2008). Publishers Weekly, 255(31), 63. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Library Uses: For creative writing or a create your own graphic novel story to show an adaptation of a classic tale.
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