"The Grimm Legacy"
By: Polly Shulman
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library— a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That's where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White's stepmother's sinister mirror that talks in riddles.My Thoughts:
When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime—or captured by the thief.
Polly Shulman has created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise, starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary— and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.
I love anything Grimm. Doesn't it seem like your seeing it everywhere now? The TV show Grimm is everywhere and fairy tale books are popping up in great abundance. “The Grimm Legacy” was selected as a Truman Award winner, I decided I just had to read it!
Elizabeth Rew is your average teenager, going to school, having friend problems, complete with a wicked stepmother. Yet, what sets her apart, is that she has just been hired to work in a lending library, full of strange and wonderful objects with a few mundane ones to round out the collection. She discovers that the Brothers Grimm were not only real, they actually collected items from the stories they wrote. In fact, an entire section of the library is dedicated to the Grimm collection.
I'm not going to go into the plot too much, as I'm sure you can infer and with any other YA novel, there are a lot of friendship problems, family strife, and a mystery involving someone taking things from the Grimm collection. Elizabeth has to work through all of these problems, while also helping find out who the culprit is. In the end, she even finds a boyfriend who also works in the library, which I enjoyed very much.
At times the novel drifted, but overall it was a neat little mystery filled with things teens have problems with; friends, family, money, jobs, school. I work in a library and loved the library world Shulman presented within the novel, as well as the mystical elements therein. A fun YA novel, “Grimm Legacy” will appeal to wide audience while also leaving the doors wide open for sequels. Great selection for the Truman Award, that's for sure!
Book Details
Publisher: Penguin Group
Date of Publication: July 8, 2010
# of Pages: 336
ISBN: 978-0399250965
Looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review. :)
ReplyDeleteI never used to read YA books, then I discovered Maberry's Rot and Ruin series, the Hunger Games series, and many others. I love that there are so many interesting novels out there for teens and maybe I'm just a kid at heart, because lots of them are interesting to me as well! I'm a Grimm fan myself, I'll keep and eye out for this and recommend it to my teenaged neighbor who is a big reader as well! Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDelete:) Thank you! It's a really neat book and I appreciate your kind words! :D Made my day!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the genre of this book??? I need to know for my reading assignment and I have no clue. I've looked everywhere.
ReplyDeleteHmm...I'm not super sure but I would classify it as a Paranormal Young Adult. There is Magic used, so I'd definitely go with the paranormal. :)
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