RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE by Shannon Hale

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hale, Shannon, and Dean Hale. Illus. Nathan Hale. 2008. Rapunzel’s Revenge. Bloomsbury: London. ISBN : 9780747587439.


PLOT SUMMARY

Rapunzel doesn’t know there is something wrong with her life, until her curiousity grows and she manages to finally scale the high wall that surrounds her opulent home. When she finds that the world outside is a dark place oppressed by her 'mother'’s greed for power and uncovers the real secret of her own birth, she is locked away in a tall magic tree tower. As Rapunzel herself says in the narration, “This is where the ‘once upon a time’ part ends.” In her years of captivity, she learns a lot about self-reliance and the numerous uses of her very long hair. With the will to escape, she eventually frees herself and vows to bring down her mother’s cruel empire while making friends and enemies all the way.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In this new take of the old classic fairytale Shannon and Deal Hale bring Rapunzel to the Wild West in a graphic novel that depicts a strong, powerful heroine with a bit of a temper but brave and loyal heart, and who doesn’t wait for the prince to escape her. She refuses to use her 'feminine wiles' to distract enemies, but rather uses her brains and physical strength to do so. The non-stop action adventure interweaves another fairytale character – Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. His fast-talking humor makes him very likable. This book will appeal to both boys and girls with the female protagonist and the equally spunky male sidekick.

The setting of Rapunzel’s Revenge around the wild and western landscape itself is so original that it is not difficult for us to forget we might have met these characters before. Mixing fantastical elements with the Wild West environment gives the book a bit of a more modern feel, accentuated with Rapunzel’s denim and boots outfit, the lively dialog and the contemporary language throughout the pages. The plot is logical, fast-paced and creative and keeps the reader’s attention with witty banter and jokes galore. The themes of friendship and good versus evil reflects universal truths that transcendent time and place.

Readers who are not familiar with graphic novels, will easily read this one and instantly like it. Each panel is intricately drawn out so that the story jumps off the page.The text is spaced out and easy to follow. The different boxes for narrative and dialogue are efortlessly identifiable. The book is rich with enough detail and subtext to keep even the most advance readers busy, while the interplay of text and images can help reluctant readers on the other end of the spectrum. Illustrator Nathan Hale does a great job reflecting the dialogue and action with his illustrations. This full-color graphic novel is definitely appealing to the eyes and all-over a delightful read.


AWARDS
ALA Notable Children's Books - Middle Readers Category: 2009
Amelia Bloomer Lists - Middle Graders Fiction: 2010
Surrey Schools' Book of the Year Award (British Columbia)
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens: 2009
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Twists on the Tale (2010)



REVIEW EXCERPTS
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.”
Kirkus Reviews: “ A beloved fairy tale gets a glossy graphic-novel makeover, reworked in a fanciful Old West setting.”
School Library Journal: “This is the tale as you've never seen it before..… 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."

CONNECTIONS
* Fractured tales provide engaging and humorous retellings of traditional tales.They are a perfect vehicle for launching compare-contrast studies of characters, setting, and plot. The Rapunzel stories make excellent lesson choices for limited English or non-proficient students.

* Students can compare and contrast this graphic novel to the original Rapunzel and find clues or allusions to the Jack and the Bean Stalk stories by The Brothers Grimm. They can learn about literary devices such as identifying and exploring themes, making inferences, and analyzing the graphic representations in the graphic novel.
* For a creative writing exercise, students could reinvent another fairy tale or legend, create a dialogue and perform it or illustrate it.