Flunked

Review by Booklist Review

For 12-year-old Gilly Cobbler, thieving is easy and it supplements her family's meager existence after their shoemaking business in Enchantasia falls on hard times. But then Gilly is busted and sent to Fairy Tale Reform School (Our mission: To turn wicked delinquents and former villains into future heroes), founded by Cinderella's repentant stepmother, Flora, and staffed by other reformed baddies, like Professor Harlow (evil queen of Snow White/poison-apple fame) and Professor Wolfington, purportedly Red's grandmother-eater. There Gilly contends with a strict regimen, rules, and mean girl Jocelyn, but befriending Kayla and Jax helps. However, FTRS is not all it seems. Someone has a secret, sinister agenda, and Gilly and pals must quickly discern perpetrator and plot, whom to trust, and what to do to avert a not-so-happy ending for everyone. This enjoyable series launch creatively incorporates familiar fairy-tale characters and hallmarks princesses, talking mirrors, spells, and magical beings, from fairies to ogres along with an engaging and spirited protagonist, abundant plot turns, and witty touches. Overall, there's much to amuse and entertain fans of classic tales with a twist, who will likely anticipate the sequel.--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2015 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Calonita (the Belles series) blithely samples from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and folklore in this lighthearted first book in the Fairy Tale Reform School series. Gilly is the 12-year-old daughter of a poor cobbler who lives in a boot, and she has a habit of stealing to support her family. But Gilly's petty thefts result in her being shipped off to the Fairy Tale Reform School, founded by Cinderella's formerly wicked stepmother in an effort to eradicate evil from the kingdom of Enchantasia and "turn wicked delinquents and former villains into future heroes." The stakes are already high for Gilly-while she's trapped at the FTRS, she's anxious about how her family will make ends meet-before she becomes embroiled in a plot within the school, which may affect several of the reformed fairy-tale instructors. Recognizable fairy-tale characters abound (profiles of the school's instructors, like Xavier Wolfington, the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, appear throughout), and questions of whether goodness or badness run to the core of a person leave readers with plenty to consider. Ages 10-12. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-7-Fairy tale lore is given a hilarious makeover in this first entry in the "Fairytale Reform School" series. Kristin Condon voices a diverse cast of new and familiar characters. Twelve-year-old Gillian Cobbler is sent to the reform school after she's discovered stealing from the royals-Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty rule collectively-to feed her large family. Condon raises and drops her pitch and volume to match the changing moods Gillian goes through during her first few weeks at the school. Condon's Flora (Cinderella's stepmother) has a full, throaty voice that works well for the knowing headmistress of FTRS, who is determined to direct young transgressors like Gillian back onto the right path. Even when she must go to the very lowest part of her register to portray Professor Wolfington (aka the Big Bad Wolf), Condon is completely convincing. The lively music and spot-on pacing add to the fun. VERDICT This is a wonderful family audio whose open ending will have all ages of listeners clamoring for the next installment.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

When 12-year-old Gilly, eldest daughter of the shoemaker, is caught with stolen goods, she is sent to Fairy Tale Reform School for rehabilitation.Life as a commoner in Enchantasia, a fairy-tale kingdom ruled over by Cinderella, Snow White, Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty) and Rapunzel, is hardly ideal. Poverty, crime and social unrest plague this less-than-magical land. Gilly's father, inventor of Cinderella's famous glass slipper, struggles to feed his large family. Gilly's thievery is both her attempt to help her family as well as her revenge against the unfair caste system. A three-strike rule finds her arrested and sentenced to reform school. However, mysterious events during Gilly's incarceration reveal that life in Enchantasia might be a lot less magical than even she thought. With the Evil Queen and the Wolf for teachers and trolls, mermaids and fairies for friends, Gilly's rehabilitation promises to be exciting. Unfortunately, in spite of a magical cast of characters and some genuinely sweet moments among Gilly and her friends and family, this fractured fairy tale falls flat. Hobbled by a stale premise, one-dimensional characters and forced dialogue, this first installment in a new series is less than promising. For a more enjoyable spin across similar territory (though without the petty crime), try Shannon Hale's The Storybook of Legends (2013) instead. (Fantasy. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Happily Ever After Scrolls

Brought to you by FairyWeb-magically appearing on scrolls throughout Enchantasia for the past ten years!

Fairy Tale Reform School Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary!

by Beatrice Beez

Poison apples, the sleeping curse, becoming a wolf's supper-five years ago, the citizens of Enchantasia quaked in fear at such evildoing. Well, no more! Thanks to one formerly despised villain, wickedness and criminal behavior are being wiped off the map.

"In the days following Cinderella's wedding, no one would even sell me a loaf of bread," says Flora, the princess's stepmother. Yes, that Flora. The one and only stepmonster who used Cinderella as unpaid help and tried to trick the prince into marrying one of her other daughters.

After Cinderella's misfortune became public, Flora was mortified. "I did some wicked things after Cinderella's-pardon me, Princess Ella's-father died," says Flora. "I was a terrible example for my two daughters. If we wanted to show our faces in Enchantasia again, I knew we had to change-especially me. From that revelation, FTRS was born."

Fairy Tale Reform School is the education program for the wicked and criminally mischievous that Flora created. It has won praise from Princess Ella herself for its success in turning villains into productive members of society. "Flora's transformation is astonishing," Princess Ella told Happily Ever After Scrolls exclusively. "I look forward to seeing their good works continue."

The school's roster of former students turned teachers is huge! There's the Wolf (the esteemed Professor Xavier Wolfington teaches history), the Sea Witch (Madame Cleo is FTRS's etiquette expert) and the Evil Queen (Professor Harlow teaches psychology and runs group therapy sessions).

"Thanks to our teachings, crime in Enchantasia has dropped to an all-time low," Flora says proudly. Since it opened, FTRS has welcomed more than five hundred gnomes, trolls, dwarfs, elves, mer-folk, and other fairy-tale students into its dormitories for grades six through twelve at its campus on the outskirts of Enchantasia near the Hollow Woods.

To celebrate FTRS's fifth anniversary, profiles of FTRS's teachers will be magically popping up on Happily Ever After Scrolls in the coming weeks. Check your scrolls often for more coverage!

Excerpted from Flunked by Jen Calonita All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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