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Cinderella Stays Late (2014)

by Joan Holub(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0545519837 (ISBN13: 9780545519830)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Scholastic Inc.

series

Grimmtastic Girls

review 1: True rating: 3.5 stars.A little too many puns, not all of which work (like "masketball"). But it's fun to meet the old familiar fairy tale characters and see how the authors' imaginations reshape them and their environment. Cinda, the only character with any real development, which is normal for a series book with a large cast (other characters will be examined with more depth in later books), is easy to like and to root for.My main gripe is with the cover illustration. I'm all for diversity, but not when it's (mis)used simply to sell books. Pictured with Cinderella and her step-sisters is Prince Awesome, who, in this tale, fills the role of Prince Charming. In the text, Awesome is described as having "dark, wavy hair", "dark brown eyes", and later, has a "lock of dark hai... morer fall over his forehead". Nowhere that I recall is his skin color described, and "wavy" hair with falling locks does not indicate a young black boy with close-cropped black hair.If this was to be an interracial relationship, as I expected, then Holub and Williams should not have beaten around the bush. If it was not meant to be so, then the cover should have depicted Prince Awesome as he really is in the text. Cinda and her step-sisters are portrayed accurately, why not the prince? If you're going to be diverse, be diverse -- don't hedge your bets (or wimp out) and straddle the center line. As it is, someone picking up this book because they anticipate reading about a budding romance between a black prince and a white Cinderella will be disappointed. Other readers will just be confused.
review 2: Thank you Netgalley & Scholastic for this free copy for a honest review. This book was in desperate need of an editor, at least the copy that I received. I tried every evening to read this one to my daughter, but I had to keep stopping because sentences didn't make sense. I may buy an actual copy later for my daughter, but I just couldn't get past all the misspellings and grammatical errors and for now this book gets 2 stars. less

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