Cinderella Stays Late (Grimmtastic Girls) - Softcover

Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated more than 130 children's books. With Suzanne Williams she is the author of the popular Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series. She lives in Raleigh, N.C. and can be found at www.joanholub.com.

Suzanne Williams is the author of nearly 40 books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) and the popular Goddess Girls series and Heroes in Training series, both co-authored with Joan Holub. For more about Suzanne and her books, visit www.suzanne-williams.com.

They may feature preening Disneyesque characters on the covers, but the tales within the new Grimmtastic Girls series have plenty of momentum as well as appealing heroines. In the Mean Girls meets Brothers Grimm opener, Cinda spends an action-packed first week at Grimm Academy, which the Grimm brothers established in part to safeguard books and other “enchanted artifacts” they have collected. Not surprisingly, Cinda’s stepsisters, who have been going there for years, give Cinda a hard time. However, she soon finds good friends in Red, Snow, and Rapunzel, as well as a worthy romantic interest in Prince Awesome. Although the authors overuse exclamation marks and neologisms (such as grimmiserable and mapestry), they also effectively create a beginners’ Hogwarts, in which readers figure out, along with Cinda, how the magical school operates and who to trust. The setup is a little strained (why wouldn’t suspicious characters like Cinda’s stepsisters be better monitored?), but the execution is highly diverting. Also available is Red Riding Hood Gets Lost (2014), wherein Red helps her pals understand an evil plot brewing at Grimm Academy. Grades 3-6. --Abby Nolan