Skip to main content

Module 8: The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman



Genre: Fantasy

Book Summary: Elizabeth is a lonely teen at a new school, just trying to fit in somewhere.  She takes up the chance to work at the New York Circulating Material Repository, a kind of library for objects.  Soon, she learns that some of the objects are less than ordinary, and in fact, many are down right magical.  As is the case with magic, evil is lurking nearby, and soon, some of the pages Elizabeth works with disappear.  She must use he newfound talents and sometimes some of the repository's objects to help her save her friends.

Shulman, Polly. (2010). The Grimm legacy. NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.

Impressions:
Elizabeth has the absolute dream job- essentially, she works in a library of actual artifacts from the worlds best stories.  They are not just a figment of her imagination- the items are real.  Throughout the book, I kept wishing that I could work at such a place.  The author has seamlessly integrated the real world with the magical world in such a fun and unique way.  It's only a matter of time before the story is adapted for film.  Finding the many literary references is a delight, and I am certain that I missed some.

In the midst of all the magic, Elizabeth does get caught up in romance and some of the teen angst issues necessary for a YA novel, but this story is definitely lighthearted in nature.  Still, I found myself wanting more of the words dedicated to the objects in the collection.  As a library student myself, it was interesting to hear about the policies they had for patrons checking items out, as well as how the pages went about retrieving them.  As much as the novel was fantasy, the literature lover in me wanted so much for it to be true, that I found myself suspending my disbelief to the point that I wanted to see if the repository really exists.  I know Shulman has written more books related to The Grimm Legacy, and I cannot wait to read them.  If they are half the homage to literature that this book was, they will definitely be worth the read.


Professional Review:
Fairy-tale and romance devotees, museum aficionados and budding librarians will pine for Elizabeth’s afterschool job. Lonely in New York City, her family straight out of Grimm (dead mom, inattentive dad, cold stepfamily), Elizabeth agrees to work at the New-York Circulating Material Repository. She passes the button-sorting interview and begins work in the stacks, where call slips arrive via pneumatic tubes. The Repository houses historical articles (textiles, wigs, tea sets), including the Grimm Collection, all circulating. Shulman’s prose sparkles describing the Grimm objects’ magic powers (recognizable from tales) and the profound deposits required to borrow them (a “long, translucent, sweater-shaped thing” is “somebody’s sense of privacy”; a future firstborn looks “infinitely vulnerable and undefined, like a thought before you put it into words”). The pages are a multiracial group, but the white librarians unfortunately romanticize the Akan peoples, constantly spouting proverbs from those “great men and women. Chiefs in Africa.” Some structural implausibility pales before vivid sensory descriptions (hexed gingerbread tastes “[s]weet and dark, like roast duck or cedar pencils”) and delightful magical happenings both thrilling and nefarious. (Fantasy. 12 & up)
Kirkus (2010). [Review for the book The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman].   Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/polly-shulman/the-grimm-legacy/
Library Uses:  The setting for much of the book is a repository of magical items throughout history, including the Grimm Collection, which is related to the fairy tales so many of us have grown up with.  Using this setting as a writing prompt for students might spur some truly creative responses.  The prompt could be "Imagine you have just begun working at the New York Circulating Material Repository.  What magical item would you most like to find, and how might you use it in the real world?"  The collection extends beyond fairy tales into science fiction and other fantastical realms.  The possibilities for students would be endless, and as a librarian, it might give insight into some of the things the students are drawn to.

Readalikes:
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jennifer Townsend

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 1- Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Genre: Picture Book Book Summary: Little bunny imagines with his mother what might happen were he to run away from her.  His imaging grows bigger and wilder each time, but each time, his mother is there to remind him how much she cares. Brown, M. W., & Hurd, C. (1972). The runaway bunny . New York: Harper & Row. Impressions: Children often ask "what if," and sometimes, they ask the questions of adults to reaffirm that everything will be okay.  Runaway Bunny is a story that gets to the heart of a child's fear of abandonment and a mother's reassurance that she will always do whatever she can to keep her child safe and by her side.  The story is a sweet reminder for both child and adult of just how deep a parent's love it. Professional Review: " This is one of the nicest things Margaret Wise Brown has done, and Clement Hurd has made enchanting pictures, with line drawings and eight double spreads in four colors, beautifully reproduced. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Module 3: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Genre : Picture Book/ Caldecott Winner Book Summary : Kitten is curious when she spies what looks to her to be a large bowl of milk.  Giving way to her thirst for something yummy, Kitten tries her best to reach the milk. Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten's first full moon (1st ed.). New York: Greenwillow Books. Impressions : Henkes creates a whimsical look into the mind of a playful kitten, allowing the reader to imagine what life is like for a little kitten.  The kitten, though not personified, has much character, and endears the reader to her plight.  That she is rewarded in the end makes everything right with the world.  The book is a joyful read in spite of, or perhaps because of, its simplicity. Professional Review : " In a surprisingly new guise, Henkes turns his hand for his 34th book to a retro look, with rough-hewn, black-and-white illustrations that pair perfectly with this deceptively simply story. When Kitten mistakes the full moon for a bowl of m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Module 14: Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer

Genre : Poetry Book Summary : Using poetry, Marilyn Singer retells moments from classic fairy tales.  By using reversible poetry, she is able to tell two sides to the story.  This book takes the art of fractured fairy tales to new heights. Singer, M. (2010). Mirror mirror: A book of reversible verse . NY: Dutton Children's Books. Impressions : I cannot get over how amazing this book is.  It is difficult to describe the genius in the words and art to someone who has not seen the book.  Despite each poem being only a stanza or two long, it is apparent that much time went into choosing just the right words to tell the story.  The fact that Singer was able to use the exact same words to tell the viewpoint of another character's opposite perspective is an amazing feat. The artwork is just as clever.  On the surface, the images look basic, but if one looks closer, they will discover that Masse has drawn what some might term a reversible image, mana...
Post a Comment
Read more