Synopses & Reviews
The winner of numerous awards and recipient of four starred reviews, Anne Ursu's
Breadcrumbs is a stunning and heartbreaking story of growing up, wrapped in a modern-day fairy tale.
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation on how growing up is as much a choice as it is something that happens to us.
In Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu tells, in her one-of-a-kind voice, a story that brings together fifty years of children's literature in a tale as modern as it is timeless. Hazel's journey to come to terms with her evolving friendship with Jack will deeply resonate with young readers.
Supports the Common Core State Standards
Review
“Devastatingly brilliant and beautiful...Ursu has sculpted a rich and poignant adventure that brings readers deep into the mysterious, magical, and sometimes frightening forests of childhood and change. Breadcrumbs is one of those rare novels that turned me on my head then sat on my heart and refused to budge.” Ingrid Law, Newbery Honor-winning author of Savvy
Review
“This is a lyrical book, a lovely book, and a smart book; it dares us to see stories as spreading more widely, and running more deeply, than we had imagined.” Gary Schmidt, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Wednesday Wars
Review
Like a fairy-tale heroine, Hazel traverses the woods without a breadcrumb trail to save a boy who may not want to be saved in this multi-layered, artfully crafted, transforming testament to the power of friendship. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
The creepy fantasyland that Hazel traverses uses bits from other Andersen tales to create a story that...is beautifully written and wholly original. Its certainly the only childrens fantasy around where Minnesota Twins All-Star catcher Joe Mauer figures into the plot. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
The evocative magical landscape, superbly developed characters (particularly dreamy, self-doubting, determined Hazel and lost Jack), and the piercing sadness of a faltering childhood friendship give this delicately written fantasy wide and lingering appeal. Bulletin of the Center for Children & #8217;s Books (starred review)
Review
2011 NPR Backseat Book Club Featured Selection
Review
“Wonderfully distinct, delightfully told and destined for a long life on the shelf.” The Wall Street Journal
Review
Accolades for
A Tale Dark and Grimm:
• New York Times bestseller
• Selection on the TODAY Shows Als Book Club for Kids
• NCTE Notable Childrens Books in the Language Arts Selection
• An E.B. White Read Aloud Honor Book
• New York Times Editors Choice pick
• Publishers Weekly Flying Start
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• ALA Notable Book
“Unlike any childrens book Ive ever read. [it] holds up to multiple rereadings, like the classic I think it will turn out to be.”
--New York Times Book Review
“A marvelous reworking of old stories that manages to be fresh, frightening, funny, and humane.” --Wall Street Journal
"A thoughtful re-envisioning of this storied world.” --Chicago Tribune
“An utterly original take on the Grimm fairy tales.” --The Huffington Post
“An audacious debut that's wicked smart and wicked funny. “ --Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Addictively compelling.” --School Library Journal, starred review
Accolades for In a Glass Grimmly:
• A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012
• A Kirkus Best Book of 2012
• A School Library Journal Best Book of 2012
• A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2013
“Each story flows into the next with humor, cleverness and an oddly absorbing realism.” -New York Times Book Review
"Gidwitz is back with a second book that, if possible, outshines A Tale Dark and Grimm." -School Library Journal, starred review
“A creative romp through traditional and tradition-based story-scapes, compulsively readable and just as read-out-loudable.”
-Kirkus, starred review
“This second foray is even more enjoyable than the authors acclaimed debut.” -Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Gidwitz masterfully threads his lore and his characters together, coming at last to a satisfying conclusion…gory, hilarious, touching, and lyrical all at once, with tons of kid appeal.” -Horn Book
“Adam Gidwitz leads us into creepy forests, gruesome deeds, terrible monsters, and—far worse—the dark places of the human heart. Its horrible . . . and I LOVED it!” --Tom Angleberger, author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Review
Praise for Dreamwood
"Wildly inventive. Like this novel, Lucy is brave, smart, and destined for greatness."—Holly Goldberg Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Counting By 7s
* “An original fantasy for middle-grade readers plaits together science, the supernatural and deep ecology . . . The carefully plotted twists and turns will keep readers absorbed to the end. A stunning debut with equal parts originality and heart.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Mackeys descriptions of the creatures and hazards of the dreamwood are gorgeous and lush, a fantastic setting for a fantastic tale.” —Booklist
“Vivid descriptions (such as a tree that digests blood and sea serpents that can be harnessed to speed a boat ride) capture the imagination at every turn…a breathless page turner.” —School Library Journal
Review
* "This book is self-aware, playing with common fantasy tropes, thus reinvigorating the familiar underlying story of a loner having to learn to overcome her fears to save the ones she loves...A fun, fast read with broad appeal."
—School Library Journal, starred review
* "Readers will not want to stop reading this quirky, fast-paced adventure until reaching its satisfactory, heartwarming conclusion...Funny, warm, and highly imaginative."
—Kirkus, starred review
Synopsis
A stunning modern-day fairy tale from acclaimed author Anne Ursu
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.
Synopsis
Widely praised and beloved by children, adults, and critics alike, Adam Gidwitz delivers a third serving of eerie new landscapes and fear-inducing creatures in a story sure to delight and frighten fans old and new. In the final book in the series, Adam's brilliantly irreverent narrator leads readers through a fresh world of Grimm-inspired fairy tales, based on such classics as The Juniper Tree, the real story of Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin.
Synopsis
Once upon a time, fairy tales were grim.
Cinderellas stepsisters got their eyes pecked out by birds.
Rumpelstiltskin ripped himself in half.
And in a tale called The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage,” a mouse, a bird, and a sausage all talk to each other. Yes, the sausage talks. (Okay, I guess that ones not that grim
)
Those are the real fairy tales.
But they have nothing on the story Im about to tell.
This is the darkest fairy tale of all. Also, it is the weirdest. And the bloodiest.
It is the grimmest tale I have ever heard.
And I am sharing it with you.
Two children venture through forests, flee kingdoms, face ogres and demons and monsters, and, ultimately, find their way home. Oh yes, and they may die. Just once or twice.
Thats right. Fairy tales
Are
Awesome.
Synopsis
Lucy Darrington has no choice but to run away from boarding school. Her father, an expert on the supernatural, has been away for
too long while doing research in Saarthe, a remote territory in the Pacific Northwest populated by towering redwoods, timber barons, and the Lupine people. But upon arriving, she learns her father is missing: Rumor has it hes gone in search of dreamwood, a rare tree with magical properties that just might hold the cure for the blight thats ravaging the forests of Saarthe.
Determined to find her father (and possibly save Saarthe), Lucy and her vexingly stubborn friend Pete follow William Darringtons trail to the deadly woods on Devils Thumb. As they encounter Lupine princesses, giant sea serpents, and all manner of terrifying creatures, Lucy hasnt reckoned that the dreamwood itself might be the greatest threat of all.
Synopsis
A funny and poignant story of unexpected friendship and dreams come true from Sarah Beth Durst.
Synopsis
"A perfect combination of adventure, humor, and pure imagination!" —Jessica Day George, New York Times best-selling author of Tuesdays at the Castle "Funny, scary, and endlessly inventive.” —Bruce Coville, author of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher Sophie loves the hidden shop below her parents' bookstore, where dreams are secretly bought and sold. When the dream shop is robbed and her parents go missing, Sophie must unravel the truth to save them. Together with her best friend—a wisecracking and fanatically loyal monster named Monster—she must decide whom to trust with her family’s carefully guarded secrets. Who will help them, and who will betray them?
About the Author
Anne Ursu is the author of Breadcrumbs, which Kirkus Reviews called a "transforming testament to the power of friendship" in a starred review, and was acclaimed as one of the best books of 2011 by The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Amazon.com, and the Chicago Public Library. It was also on the IndieBound Next List and was an NPR Backseat Book Club featured selection. She was also the recipient of the 2013 McKnight Fellowship Award in Children's Literature. Anne teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis with her son and four cats—monster fighters, all.