From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up–When Veronica and Heather, two radically different sophomores, are transported into the midst of the high-fantasy novel that they're supposed to be writing papers about, they are compelled to find their way through the story. Veronica is a bookish introvert who already knows the plot backward and forward. Heather is a queen bee who knows nothing about the novel and wants only to get home with her nail polish intact. In her ignorance, she diverges from the story line and is mistaken for a princess, which forces Veronica to improvise, much against her natural inclinations. The girls' mutual animosity adds some further interest to a situation ripe for transformative, character-forming experiences among the elves, dwarves, wizard, witches, and whatnot. Papademetriou is playful with the genre, freely referring to Tolkien, Baum, Rowling, Lewis, and Claymation movies, etc., for shorthand descriptions of her settings and characters. For example, one of the elves says he's a Kibler, which readers realize should be pronounced like a well-known baking company after he produces a batch of cookies that he claims to have baked in a tree. The author simultaneously spoofs the genre while plundering it for her own ends. The result is hardly deep, but it's good fun.
–Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gr. 6-9. When bookish Veronica and fashion-slave Heather scuffle over a copy of
Queen of Twilight, which they both need for a high-school English assignment, they wind up inside its narrative. Locals in the novel's fantasy land believe Heather is Princess Arabelle (whom Heather accidentally shattered when she arrived in the story), and it falls to Veronica, who knows the book's plot, to figure out what to do about the situation. While
Queen has elements recalling fantasies by Tolkien, Baum, Lewis, and Rowling, the girls' own adventure in literature is full of puns and allusions to contemporary culture (elves called Kiblar bake cookies). Not everything is cute or funny, though: horrible gargoyles fly through the air, and some creatures make a habit of chewing off rabbits' heads. In the end, the girls reveal their mortal natures, but only after long treks to wizard strongholds, battles with evil, and Heather's conversion from a shallow teen to a caring friend. Satisfying fare for fantasy lovers who appreciate broad humor laced with a sprinkling of grossness.
Francisca GoldsmithCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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