THE UNFAIREST OF THEM ALL by Shannon Hale

Legacy Day did not quite go the way everyone planned and now the fallout is apparent - Royals and Rebels food fighting in the castleteria, fairy tale characters wrestling with their destiny and their personal desires, and one of the core characters in danger of banishment forever. Will Raven's choices on Legacy Day drive a wedge between the Royals and Rebels so deep that it cannot be fixed, or can students from both sides pull together for one of their own?

I enjoyed this chapter in the Ever After high series even more than I enjoyed the first one! While the main characters, Raven and Apple, wrestle with the implications of Raven's Legacy Day choice for their individual stories, they are also dealing with the repercussions on their school lives. How can Apple be a leader if she doesn't know what is going to happen to her storied path to become queen? Is Raven responsible for all the horrible things happening at Ever After High? While the girls wrestle with their personal choices and questions, they also get to work together on something bigger and more important than individual destiny. The world building and character development grow nicely in this story that will satisfy fans of the first book.

5 out of 5 stars
AR reading level of 5.1

Book three, A Wonderlandiful World releases August 26, 2014

EVER AFTER HIGH: THE STORYBOOK OF LEGENDS by Shannon Hale

Apple White, Briar Beauty, Raven Queen, Maddie Hatter and the other children of Ever After characters attend Ever After High. In their second year, they sign a pack to fulfill their destiny and replay their parents' stories. Headmaster Grimm has warned them that not signing would cause everyone in their story to "poof" out of existence. So they have to sign, right? But Raven Queen isn't sure she wants to be the Evil Queen like her mother. She wants to make her own choices and decide her own destiny. Is she willing to risk her own existence - and Apple White and Prince Charming's happily-ever-after to get what she wants?

This is a really fun fairy tale story! The ever-after-isms - some of the cheesy and cliche' parts of classic fairy tales - sprinkled throughout the story were sometimes distracting. And sometimes I had to remind myself who some of the secondary characters were supposed to be. But the driving story of fate verses choice was completely captivating! I have already bought a copy for the school library and another for a gift and I can't wait to read what comes next in this series!

4 out of 5 stars
There is no AR rating at this time.

There's a great interactive website for the series here. There are also some FREE teaser stories available for e-readers - just a few pages of a character's story to give you a sense of the character. I read these before the book came out and I enjoyed them. Here are what they look like:
          

TUESDAY: Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack

Two great graphic novels.

First is Rapunzel's story - it starts fairly close to the original. Then Rapunzel escapes her "tower" (a tree) and she meets up with Jack and they try to make their way back to Mother Gothel's fortress to ruin her and save Rapunzel's real mother. Lots of great adventure - fighting sea monsters, coyotes and a horned bunny - and great hair.


In Jack's story, Jack and Rapunzel head home to make things up to Jack's mother from the whole beanstalk fiasco. But when they get there, they discover that the giants have taken over, Jack's mother is being held hostage to bake the giant's bread, and a friend has become a foe.


Both stories are well told and well drawn. There are plenty of good twists and reveals. Both books are "chunky" reads - well worth the price with heavy paper and great color. Jack is over 140 pages in hard cover.

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