Enchanted

Gr 7–9—Sunday, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter in the Woodcutter family, has six older sisters also named after days of the week. They all have characteristics from the rhyme "Monday's child.…" Sunday's fairy godmother gave her a name-day gift—the ability to write stories that all come true. She visits the woods to write in her journal and meets a frog who listens to her tales. They fall in love and one day, after Sunday kisses her frog goodnight and leaves, he turns from Grumble into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland and a man her family hates due to his involvement in the disappearance of Jack, Sunday's oldest brother. The process of the prince getting back to the castle and getting Sunday to fall in love with him as a man takes many chapters and includes fairy tale mash-ups, such as The Frog Prince, Cinderella, The Goose Girl, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Katherine Kellgren's amazing narration draws listeners into Kontis's tale (Harcourt, 2012). Her characterizations and voices are compelling, especially that of Grumble. Kellgren varies her pacing and succeeds at raising the suspense level to maintain listener interest. If there is any flaw to the story, it's that listeners may be distracted while trying to decipher which fairytale is being added to the mix with each new bit of action.—Ann Brownson, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston