Whatever After #1: Fairest of All [Hardcover]

Sarah Mlynowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2012 | Age Range: 8 and up | Series: Whatever After (Book 1) | Lexile Measure: 400L (What's this?)

A fresh, modern spin on a classic fairy tale--from bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski!

Mirror, mirror, on the basement wall . . .

Once upon a time my brother and I were normal kids. The next minute? The mirror in our basement slurped us up and magically transported us inside Snow White's fairy tale.

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.

But hey -- we're heroes! We stopped Snow White from eating the poisoned apple. Hooray! Or not. If Snow White doesn't die, she won't get to meet her prince. And then she won't get her happy ending. Oops.

Now it's up to us to:
- Avoid getting poisoned
- Sneak into a castle
- Fix Snow White's story

And then, fingers crossed, find our way home.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

There’s “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” but what happens when the story “gets all tangled up” in the middle? That question is at the heart of this debut title in a new fairy-tale-themed series. Ten-year-old Abby and her seven-year-old brother, Jonah, are living a normal life in a new town until they discover the mirror in the basement. When they knock on its surface three times, they’re whizzed away to fairy-tale land and find themselves at the home of Snow (yes, White). Just as Evil Evelyn, her wicked stepmother, is about to hand over the infamous poison apple, Jonah intervenes. But if Snow doesn’t eat the poison apple, then the prince can’t save her, and that means Snow’s love life is ruined, not to mention Disney’s whole movie. There’s lots of hilarious artistic license here (three of the seven dwarfs are women; one has pink hair), along with unexpected plot twists and plenty of girl power. Tween girls who may not be quite ready for Donna Jo Napoli and Gail Carson Levine’s fractured-fairy-tale novels will find this title is just right. Grades 4-6. --Ann Kelley

Review

Praise for WHATEVER AFTER #1: FAIREST OF ALL

"An uproariously funny read. The swift pace of the tale and non-stop action . . . will enchant readers from the first page." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Hilarious . . . with unexpected plot twists and plenty of girl power." -- Booklist

"This delightful kick-off to the series demonstrates Mlynowski's prowess at writing for middle-graders." -- Publishers Weekly

"Giddy, fizzy, hilarious fun!" -- Lauren Myracle, author of LUV YA BUNCHES

"I tore through FAIREST OF ALL in one sitting and loved, loved, loved it! It's inventive, hilarious, and full of adventure and surprises" -- Leslie Margolis, author of The Maggie Booklyn Mysteries

"Sarah Mlynowski's spunky heroine injects some girl-power into Snow White for a wonderful reading adventure the whole family will enjoy. Tons of fractured fairy tale fun!" -- Meg Cabot, author of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls and The Princess Diaries

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545403308
• ISBN-13: 978-0545403306
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sarah is the author of both the WHATEVER AFTER and MAGIC IN MANHATTAN series, as well as MILKRUN, FISHBOWL, AS SEEN ON TV, MONKEY BUSINESS, GIMME A CALL, TEN THINGS WE DID (AND PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE) and HOW TO BE BAD (along with E.Lockhart and Lauren Myracle). Sarah's short stories and novellas include A LITTLE BIT BROKEN, A NICE FLING IS HARD TO FIND, KNOW IT ALL and CRUISIN'. Sarah also co-edited the bestselling chick-lit collections GIRLS' NIGHT IN and GIRLS' NIGHT OUT and co-wrote the first ever guide to writing chick lit, SEE JANE WRITE.

Sarah's books have been translated into twenty-one languages and optioned to Hollywood. She was born in Montreal but now lives and writes in New York City.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor and Heart June 10, 2012

By K. M. Martin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Abby is a girl after my own heart. She is ten, very concerned with fairness, wants to be a judge when she grows up, is a bossy older sister, and prefers her adventures in story books. Also, she loves exclamation points! But when she and her adventurous younger brother Jonah get sucked into a magic mirror in the basement of her old house she has to find a way to save Snow White from her evil stepmother and find her way home too.

Abby wants her stories unchangeable. When Jonah stops Snow from eating the poisoned apple, the story is changed. Abby and Jonah hatch a variety of schemes to make the story follow the pattern they both know but nothing works. The kids have lots of adventures as they travel from the dwarves' cottage to Snow White's castle. Along the way Abby does things she never thought she would be brave enough to do and learns that sometimes change is good.

The story is filled with humor and heart. I recommend it to middle grade fantasy lovers.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The author needs a grammar lesson. February 4, 2013

By Mary O'Flaherty

Format:Kindle Edition

I previewed this book for my eight-year-old by getting the Kindle sample. It was the daily deal and had good reviews so, I was excited! In this world of texting, where everything is abbreviated or translated into an acronym, children have a tough enough time learning grammar. This story might be cute and engaging. I wouldn't really know because, as I read it, I couldn't help but notice (and focus on) the atrocious grammar utilized by the author. The description of the game of Tag (yes, it should be capitalized) was practically unreadable. She has apparently never learned how to use quotation marks, the difference between "me" and "I", or proper capitalization. Obviously, there are times when an author uses poor grammar on purpose, as part of telling the story. This is not one of those cases. Our children deserve better than this slop. For my children, I will stick with books in which the author and editor respect and adhere to basic grammar rules. It's really not that hard to do.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Lost Dragonfly Chronicles review: Whatever After July 17, 2012

By liz.dragonflychronicles

Format:Hardcover

I might be 23, but I completely adored this book. It gives that feeling of wanting to squish a baby's chubby cheeks. (I know I am weird, you don't have to tell me.) I would recommend this book to really anyone of any age. If you have kids or grandkids it would be a great book to read with them, especially if they love fairytales.
This book was creative and an innovative retelling of Snow White. It was the kind of book you wished you could be swept up in and go along with the characters in their adventures. I thought it was interesting how they story twisted and turned to make it original. There are things even I didn't expect.

It is amazing how driven Abby's character is in the story. When I was in fifth grade I had no idea what I wanted to be. All I cared about was summer camp and dance classes. Abby has almost this O.C.D. about everything. She loves to makes lists and has everything organized and detailed. She is very set in her way, even when it comes to peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Her brother is just this goofy character. I mean he eats everything with ketchup and I do mean everything. I loved that while Abby was this decisive character, Johan is carefree and worries about the consequences later. Johan's energy and imagination are infectious and it really lifted the book up.

I am not sure if I agree with how Snow White acted towards the prince. One second she is being shy and the next being demanding of how she wants her story to end. She acts empowered by the end of the book and I believe it would be a good thing for girls to look up to. You don't see the dwarfs as much in the books as I would have liked. They are great secondary characters to the book though and you do get a certain surprise that pertains to them.

I want a Gabrielle, Gabrielle. I can't say who she is, but you should read the book and find out. This book had me laughing out loud and completely entranced. I stayed up late just to finish it and sighed in content with the ending. If only I had a mirror to get "slurped" up in and be taken to different fairytale stories. I will definitely read the rest of the series to see what happens next in Abby's and Johan's adventures.