Overview
A captivating and witty dark fantasy that will have girls lusting after it.
Morgan Sparks has always known that she and her boyfriend, Cam, are made for each other. But when Cam’s cousin Pip comes to stay with the family, Cam seems depressed. Finally Cam confesses to Morgan what’s going on: Cam is a fairy. The night he was born, fairies came down and switched him with a healthy human boy. Nobody expected Cam to live, and nobody expected his biological brother, heir to the fairy throne, to die. But both things happened, and now the fairies want Cam back to take his rightful place as Fairy King.
Even as Cam physically changes, becoming more miserable each day, he and Morgan pledge to fool the fairies and stay together forever. But by the time Cam has to decide once and for all what to do, Morgan’s no longer sure what’s best for everyone, or whether her and Cam’s love can weather an uncertain future.
Synopsis
A captivating and witty dark fantasy that will have girls lusting after it.
Morgan Sparks has always known that she and her boyfriend, Cam, are made for each other. But when Cam’s cousin Pip comes to stay with the family, Cam seems depressed. Finally Cam confesses to Morgan what’s going on: Cam is a fairy. The night he was born, fairies came down and switched him with a healthy human boy. Nobody expected Cam to live, and nobody expected his biological brother, heir to the fairy throne, to die. But both things happened, and now the fairies want Cam back to take his rightful place as Fairy King.
Even as Cam physically changes, becoming more miserable each day, he and Morgan pledge to fool the fairies and stay together forever. But by the time Cam has to decide once and for all what to do, Morgan’s no longer sure what’s best for everyone, or whether her and Cam’s love can weather an uncertain future.
The Barnes & Noble Review
Like everyone in the world, I remember adolescence clearly -- and mostly with horror. It’s not the moments of humiliation that haunt me in the middle of the night, but piercing memories of mistakes I made: errors in judgment, ethical missteps, selfish unkindness. I could have been a case study for research proving that adolescent brain development (or the lack thereof) leads to reckless, foolish decisions. So when I decided to read all the 2009 finalist entries in the Young Adult (YA) category for the RITA, romance’s most prestigious prize, I was curious about how realistic they would be. Would these six heroines engage in anything that I -- or at least my memories of myself -- would recognize?
They do. In fact, all of these novels do a brilliant job depicting a young adult’s scrambled thinking and -- even better -- the first sign of the maturity that scientists promise will eventually occur. Here, the road to love is littered with risk-taking behavior.
Cyn Balog’s Fairy Tale is the oddball in this group: Balog is less interested in her characters’ muddled thinking than in the truly fascinating and odd world she creates for them. Morgan Sparks and Cam Browne have been friends since birth, and their love seems the kind that will actually survive adolescence. Even the fact that Morgan has the truly uncomfortable ability to see into the future doesn’t phase Cam: besides, she can’t see his future, so she’s perfectly comfortable around him. At least, until he starts growing wings. And carrying a tiny fairy around in a paper bag, who insists that she is Cam’s future. This is a story that blends fantastic imagination with grown-up problems: Cam and Morgan can’t have life just the way they’ve always wanted, and watching them come to terms with that is a bittersweet joy.
If you happen to be a young adult yourself, or you know a young lady who might be interested, you can’t do better than buy these books. As the mother of a tween, I know how hard it can be to find YA books that appeal to a young girl and don’t horrify the woman with a credit card in hand. Far too many books aimed at this age group are little more than candy floss tales of conspicuous consumption. These novels will satisfy both of you.
--Eloisa James
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Morgan and her football star boyfriend Cam have been “attached at the hip since kindergarten,” but now their love is threatened by the Otherworld—a land of fairies. Morgan has always possessed the ability to see into the future: who will get into Harvard, who is gay and whose relationships will last (“It's not my fault. I just deliver the mail; I don't write it,” she says). As the teens' sweet 16 approaches (they share a birthday), Cam begins to grow wings, and his odd cousin Pip appears to explain that Cam must return to the Otherworld, enter into an arranged marriage and become king of that realm. While plotting to save Cam as he shrinks into a fairy, Pip and Morgan develop their own romance. The plot of Balog's debut novel unfolds quickly, without much suspense, and while Morgan's voice is often entertaining, she feels somewhat remote as a narrator—it's difficult to get a sense of her as a character. An intermittently gripping if not especially memorable addition to the urban faerie genre. Ages 12–up. (June)Children's Literature -
Morgan and Cam share the same birthday. The pair has been best friends since they were born and a couple for almost that long; however, a week before their sweet sixteen birthdays, things start to get a little strange. Cam's bizarre cousin Pip comes to stay. Cam starts to act strange and does not have as much time for Morgan, and she finds out that her boyfriend is really a fairy who is supposed to leave her on their birthday. Of course, Pip, the changeling that the fairies took when they left Cam, comes to the rescue to help Morgan figure out a plan to keep Cam in the human world. This fluffy novel is sure to please urban fairy tale fans—but only if they do not mind more fluff than substance. Morgan and Cam are supposedly perfect for each other, but more often than not readers hear about how perfect the relationship is rather than seeing why it works. Compared to Cam, Pip is clearly the more developed character, so it is no surprise that Morgan starts to develop feelings for him as well. Basically, Morgan is either on the verge of figuring out a plan to save Cam, fluctuating between whom she loves, or whining about life's general unfairness. This is a fun read with lots of fairy references, but a bit lacking in depth. Reviewer: Joella PetersonSchool Library Journal
Gr 8 Up—Morgan Sparks and her football-star boyfriend, Cameron, were born on the same day. Close all their lives, the two are looking forward to celebrating their 16th birthday with a blowout bash. Then, a week before the party, Morgan catches Cameron hanging out with a new girl. It turns out that he is a fairy changeling, and that Dawn is a fairy sent to prepare him for his one-way journey back to fairyland. Pip, the gawky, geeky human who grew up in fairyland in Cam's place, has come with her. Morgan, whose psychic abilities allow her to see through the fairy spell that keeps most humans ignorant of Cam's transition, watches her once-formidable boyfriend sprout wings, shrink, and prepare to become the Fairy King. Some comic moments arise from Cam's changes, as well as from Pip's awkward acculturation into the human world and Morgan's hit-and-miss sassy narration. Underneath the comedy, there is also pathos: Morgan and Cameron losing their first love, and Cameron's coming to accept that the life he thought he wanted is now impossible. The plot is the weakest element: Morgan's plan to save Cam is half-hearted, the final action sequence lacks tension, and the mechanics of fairy magic are never quite consistent. Fairy Tale has a few choice witticisms and touching moments, but Morgan is no Maggie Quinn.—Megan Honig, New York Public LibraryKirkus Reviews
In most high schools, the psychic girl would be the weird supernatural student, but Morgan's precognitive powers just aren't the strangest thing around. Instead, it's Morgan's boyfriend, Cam, her best friend since they were in diapers, who's the really paranormal teen in this shallow romance. It seems Cam is a changeling, destined to return to the fairy lands on his 16th birthday. Morgan watches in horror as Cam's football-player physique shrinks away into sparkly, winged, smooth-skinned feyness. Meanwhile, she has to cope with an interloper: Pip, the human child originally stolen and replaced by Cam in the cradle 16 years before. As Morgan watches, Pip transforms from fashion-challenged dork to a gorgeous-smelling hunk with washboard abs. It's too bad that this love story, fairly original within the confines of the trendy paranormal-romance genre, is so thoroughly superficial, complete with a self-absorbed, unlikable heroine and a looks-obsessed notion of love and romance. The fairy world has got to be better than being in Morgan's orbit. (Fantasy. 12-14)The Barnes & Noble Review
Like everyone in the world, I remember adolescence clearly -- and mostly with horror. It’s not the moments of humiliation that haunt me in the middle of the night, but piercing memories of mistakes I made: errors in judgment, ethical missteps, selfish unkindness. I could have been a case study for research proving that adolescent brain development (or the lack thereof) leads to reckless, foolish decisions. So when I decided to read all the 2009 finalist entries in the Young Adult (YA) category for the RITA, romance’s most prestigious prize, I was curious about how realistic they would be. Would these six heroines engage in anything that I -- or at least my memories of myself -- would recognize?
They do. In fact, all of these novels do a brilliant job depicting a young adult’s scrambled thinking and -- even better -- the first sign of the maturity that scientists promise will eventually occur. Here, the road to love is littered with risk-taking behavior.
Cyn Balog’s Fairy Tale is the oddball in this group: Balog is less interested in her characters’ muddled thinking than in the truly fascinating and odd world she creates for them. Morgan Sparks and Cam Browne have been friends since birth, and their love seems the kind that will actually survive adolescence. Even the fact that Morgan has the truly uncomfortable ability to see into the future doesn’t phase Cam: besides, she can’t see his future, so she’s perfectly comfortable around him. At least, until he starts growing wings. And carrying a tiny fairy around in a paper bag, who insists that she is Cam’s future. This is a story that blends fantastic imagination with grown-up problems: Cam and Morgan can’t have life just the way they’ve always wanted, and watching them come to terms with that is a bittersweet joy.
If you happen to be a young adult yourself, or you know a young lady who might be interested, you can’t do better than buy these books. As the mother of a tween, I know how hard it can be to find YA books that appeal to a young girl and don’t horrify the woman with a credit card in hand. Far too many books aimed at this age group are little more than candy floss tales of conspicuous consumption. These novels will satisfy both of you.
--Eloisa James