Fairest of All

by Sarah Mlynowski

When 5^th grader Abby and her little brother Jonah move from Chicago to boring small-town Smithville, they think the exciting part of their lives might be over. Then Jonah discovers a hissing mirror in the basement. After he knocks on it three times, the mirror swallows them both up and spits them out in a fairy tale land called Zamel. They arrive just in time to witness Snow White’s evil stepmother attempting to poison Snow with an apple, just like in the story. They save her from that fate, but soon realize their huge mistake. If Snow doesn’t eat the poisoned apple, the Prince never gets to rescue her, and she never falls in love with him. They have actually ruined Snow White’s happily ever after. Somehow they have to get the Prince’s attention, but it won’t be easy. This is essentially Snow White retold, with enough amusing changes thrown in to keep tweens giggling. Some of the dwarves are girls, one of them is ridiculously handsome, and the magic mirror’s name is Gabrielle. While Snow White is annoyingly vapid, Abby’s conversational narration is witty and charming, and Jonah’s one-liners are snappy and cute. A sweet, light, fun adventure.