Fairy tale re-makes abound these days. Here’s one that captured the attention of almost my entire sixth grade class this past summer. Although they all loved it, the first warning they gave me was, “It’s bloody!” So I figured it’s perfect for Halloween.

Title: A Tale Dark and Grimm

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Genre: fantasy

Age group: older middle grade/early YA

Summary: This is the extended story of Hansel and Gretel that you’ve never heard before. You’ll hear about how their grandfather died, how his death impacted the way their father was raised, and how their parents met. All of this leads up to Hansel and Gretel having a very messed up childhood. One that goes way beyond the witch with the candy house. Warning: this story is not for the faint of heart. A witch who eats children is the least of Hansel and Gretel’s concerns.

To me, the best part of this novel was the writer’s voice. The narrator keeps “breaking the fourth wall” (to use an old theater term) by interrupting the story and speaking directly to the audience to rather comical effects. For example, every time a bloody scene is about to happen, the narrator jumps in and warns the reader to remove any young children from the room.

I’ll be honest and say that the violence in the book is so fantastical that you simply can’t take it seriously. To me, these books are actually much less scary than those that are more realistic. People get their heads cut off and then come back to life. I think the narrator interruptions also help to keep the book from becoming too nightmarish. All the violence just seems silly in a sort of Grimm fairytale sort of way (which is why the title makes so much sense).

So what can I say? It might not be quite my cup of tea, but it’s extremely popular with the kids, especially those who enjoy books with a darker edge to them.

I first read A Wrinkle in Time when I was in junior high. It fascinated me. Never before had I read a story that took me to worlds so vastly different from my own. Years later, I still love it, and kids today find it as entrancing as I did. If you’ve never read this Newbery Medal winner, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L’Engle

Age group: middle grade

Genre: speculative fiction (part sci-fi, part fantasy)

Synopsis: Meg Murry’s life can’t get much worse. She’s been dropped to the lowest level in class, her dad’s gone missing, and her mom acts like everything’s going to be fine. During a storm one night, a strange woman named Mrs. Whatsit enters the Murry home. Mrs. Whatsit tells Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and her mom that there is such a thing as a tesseract (a wrinkle in time that allows for time and space travel). Meg’s father had been experimenting with tesseracts when he disappeared. Now it appears her dad’s life is in danger, and Meg must head out with Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin in order to rescue him.

This is a hard book to describe, and I really don’t want to give too much away. Half the fun of this book is the surprises. All I’ll say is that L’Engle creates vivid characters and settings that are hard to forget even years after first reading the book!

And yes, I have multiple editions. Which cover do you like best? The one on the left is more all-encompassing for the story, but the one on the right has a more modern, Harry Potter feel to it.