Fairest of All - Sarah Mlynowski - Whatever After Book 1

Fairest of All
Whatever After Book 1
Sarah Mlynowski
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545403306

This is one of the books my oldest daughter and I read together this year. For school she is suppose to read for 20 minutes a day. Because she is struggling a bit we tend to read 40 minutes but alternate pages. This book and the series that is now up to ten books is a new spin on old tales. In some ways reminiscent of the fractured fairy tales, or Tony Abbott's Cracked Classics. It is the story of two modern day kids who get transported through a magic mirror into the events of the legend or story of Sleeping Beauty.

This is the story of Abby and Jonah and their adventure. Late one night they get ported through the large mirror in the basement along with most of their parent's Legal books, and soon find themselves in a story that is familiar but not quite the same. Abby is very cautious and also very protective both of Beauty and her brother. Jonah on the other hand seems to be a jump first think later type of guy. When they stop Snow White eating the poised apple the whole story goes sideways. Soon they are trying to figure out how to set the story right. Also time in the story seems to be moving at a much slower pace than back home, for Abby's watch is moving incrementally. They have until their parents would wake up the next morning to figure this out. As such they spend a number of days trying to help Beauty and to set the story right. So the tasks they have to accomplish are:

• Not get poisoned
• Sneak into the evil queen's castle
• Set Beauty up with the Prince
• And find a way back home.

All while the clock is ticking. That is a lot of pressure on the shoulders of a two siblings far far away from home and in a place they do not really understand. And all of that on a ticking clock.

This was an interesting take on the story. The way the kids looked after and protected each other was a great example. The fact that they choose to stick around and fix their mistake instead of taking a quick way out is a great example of character and integrity. My daughter loved the premise and has since picked up a few more from this series for us to read together. She also loved some of the twists on the dwarfs. But to find that out you will need to read the book. So we have a lot of reading ahead of us. So overall a good read that I can recommend.

Books by Sarah Mlynowski:
Magic in Manhattan Series:
Bras & Broomsticks
Frogs & French Kisses
Spells & Sleeping Bags
Parties & Potions

Whatever After Series:
Fairest of All
If the Shoe Fits
Sink or Swim
Dream On
Bad Hair Day
Cold As Ice
Beauty Queen
Once Upon a Frog
Genie in a Bottle
Sugar and Spice

Two Peas in a Pod
Seeing Red
Spill the Beans

Good as Gold

Just Dance 

…

Whatever After Special Editions:
Abby in Wonderland
Abby in Oz
…

Upside-Down Magic Series:
Upside-Down Magic #1
Sticks and Stones #2
Showing Off #3

Other Books by Sarah:
Milkrun
Fishbowl
Monkey Business
As Seen on TV
Me Vs. Me
Gimme a Call
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)
Don't Even Think About It
Think Twice
Know It All
A Nice Fling is Hard to Find
A Little Bit Broken
Cruisin'
Party Girls
The Two-Month Itch

Books Coauthored:
See Jane Write (with Farrin Jacobs)
How to Be Bad (with E. Lockhart and Lauren Myracle)

Books Contributed To:
Girls' Night In
Girls Night Out
American Girls About Town
Fireworks
Vacations from Hell