There is also a new unwanted companion, the familiar one with blonde curls, Goldie. This leads to an adventure with dwarves, being followed by a wolf and a hunter, and conflicting experiences with a beast. The ingredients are not all found, and Red’s path turns to a new idea: she begins to look for the spells that would mean eternal life so that Granny would never die. To Red’s dismay, one day she arrives to find Granny in bed, very ill, and sends Red off to find the ingredients for a strong medicine. Once she tried a small spell or two, which never worked, and one nearly became the end of Granny. Red has inherited the strength of magic from her Granny, but early in the book we learn that Red stays away from it because of disasters that happened in her young life. There are new things to learn about Red Riding Hood, but there also are reminders of her past adventures with Rump, good memories touched on. I couldn’t help but think of the word “family reunion” as I read this new tale by Liesl Shurtliff. *I received a copy to review through the publisher in exchange for an honest review* I'm excited to pass this series on to my almost ten year old daughter because the adventure, danger, fun, and magic is very exciting and perfect for anyone who loves middle grade fiction.Ĭontent: mild moments of peril and violence. I loved the friendships that are formed and the character lessons learned are fantastic. I loved seeing how they're all interconnected. One of my favorite things about this book (and I have read Rump, so I'm not sure if it's similar, but I'm guessing it is), is that there are so many different snippets into other fairy tales. I love the way Red figures things out with her situation and doesn't just sit back, waiting for things to fall into her lap. She's actually brave, fearful, charming, and brash, all rolled up into one great character. In a lot of re-tellings, Red almost seems like an oblivious, spoiled child, yet in this one, there is depth to the reasons why she does what she does and it makes sense.

Shurtliff does a fantastic job in doing just that-weaving a familiar tale with unique twists that makes it new and fresh. I'm always curious to see how an author can change a beloved classic and spin it in a new way, yet leaving the best, lovable parts intact.

Red the fairly true story