Rapunzel's Revenge

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hale, Shannon and Hale, Dean. 2008. Rapunzel’s Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. ISBN: 9781599900704

2. PLOT SUMMARY

This story is a modern day adaptation of the classic Rapunzel story. It begins in a beautiful villa, surrounded by a wall, where Rapunzel lives with her mother Gothel. At the age of 12, curiosity gets the best of her and in her discovery outside the wall, finds out the truth about her original family and her real mother’s status as a slave. In anger, she confronts mother Gothel who locks her in a magical tree. During this time, her hair grows long, and she is able to use it as a rope to escape in hopes of rescuing her mother and fixing all of the problems that mother Gothel has caused throughout the land. At the beginning of her journey, she meets Jack and his goose, and together, they outsmart various groups of outlaws looking to harm them. Finally, she makes it back to the villa, triumphs over mother Gothel, saves her mother, and makes all things right.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book turns Rapunzel from the traditional damsel in distress story to an action adventure filled with danger, humor, and even a little love. While the beginning villa setting seems somewhat familiar to any reader of classic fairy tales, most of the action in this graphic novel takes place in what can only be described as the Wild, Wild, West. This setting allows Rapunzel to act in a rather uncharacteristic manner, using her hair as a lasso, riding a boar, fighting coyotes and a sea snake, and even besting gun toting bad guys around almost every corner. Readers can’t help but cheer on the fearless and determined heroine as she sets out to right wrongs and ultimately help good triumph over evil.

The illustrations by Nathan Hale are nothing short of amazing. He is clearly able to capture the ever changing emotions of the main characters as they experience the highs and lows of this journey together and interact with a motley group of people along the way. The captions are witty and progress the story at an appropriate pace, and even young or reluctant readers will be able to access this text. It is, however, more content appropriate for a 5th-8th grade audience. Overall, even though this book has a predictable fairy tale storyline and a theme where good wins and everyone lives happily ever after, it is a unique take on the classic that many readers will instantly love.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2008 CYBIL AWARD WINNER

2009 LEAH ADEZIO AWARD FOR MOST KID-FRIENDLY WORK

2009 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens

2009 ALA Notable Children’s Book

From School Library Journal: “The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after.”

From Booklist: “Hale’s art matches the story well, yielding expressive characters and lending a wonderful sense of place to the fantasy landscape. Rich with humor and excitement, this is an alternate version of a classic that will become a fast favorite of young readers.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Gather other Rapunzel adaptations to read such as:

•                      Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. ISBN 0142301930

•                      Gibb, Sarah. Rapunzel: Based on the Original Story by the Brothers Grimm. ISBN 080756804X

Gather other books written by Shannon and Dean Hale or illustrated by Nathan Hale such as:

•                     Calamity Jack. ISBN 1599903733

•                     The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party. ISBN 0763665118 (or others in this series)

•                     Princess Academy. ISBN 1619636131

Use with a study of graphic novels.

Use with a unit on fractured fairy tales, retellings, and other adaptations.

Use with a unit on making inferences. Action and emotion is usually told within the pictures rather than the words. Are readers slowing down enough to read the pictures, comprehend the story, and infer what is not being said?