Charmed

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

The Fairy Tale Reform School Series is back with the second book.  If you have not read the first book, here is a book talk about the first book - Flunked.

Our heroine, Gilly has returned to FTRS even though she had the opportunity to return to her family.  It doesn't take long for Alva, our antagonist to return with a bang to free her minions and seek revenge against Gilly.  Now Gilly and her friends need to find the mole that is working for Alva, and fast, as Alva attacks the school, the city, and tries to recruit students from FTRS to join the cause.

Gilly struggles throughout the book with her new role as a hero of FTRS, and her past of doing everything on her one.  The fame and notoriety go to her head as she considers joining Princess Rose's Royal-Lady-in-Waiting to learn to be a noble and princess.  But does that mean turning her back on her friends that stood by her and assisted her to defeat Alva the first time? This book leaves Gilly with many challenges and decisions that will change the fate of FTRS, and an overlying question that flows throughout the entire book is "Who can Gilly trust?".

AUTHOR: Jen Calonita

GENRE: Fantasy

GRADE: 5-7

Flunked

Kids, students, and life-long readers,


This book talk reveals another play off of familiar fairy tales and Disney movies that we have come to love.  You find classic characters like the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother, but these villains are now teachers at FTRS - Fairy Tale Reform School.  They have turned from their evil ways and now look to help the rebellious youth find the straight and narrow.

And that is where we meet our main character, Gilly.  Gilly lives a life of pickpocketing from the Royals after her father's show business begins to falter.  She is eventually caught and sent to FTRS.  It doesn't take long for her to realize that something at this school is amiss.  She builds relationships with some other characters - her roommate that never seems to be around, Jax, who is always trying to escape and cares for no one but himself, and Jocelyn, who is out to make everyone's life miserable.
Gilly learns that not everyone is who they appear, and there is an evil growing but are the students involved, are the teachers plotting, will the Royals be able to help, or are they too late.

"There's a battle brewing, and Gilly has to wonder just how good these bad guys are."