Overview
Once upon a time, there was a girl. Let's call her Rapunzel. A modern-day version. Abandoned. Alone. Waiting for her hair to grow and dreaming of a way to escape from her tower. She was trapped, you see. Not in the conventional fairy-tale way—this was the dreaded after-school Homework Club. A desolate place, where no gum could be chewed, and where Rapunzel sat day after day, cursing the evil spell that had been cast over her father. The doctors called it something else, but a true heroine can smell an evil spell a mile away. So when a mysterious letter addressed to P.O. Box #5667 falls into her hands, she knows she's found the pea under her mattress. But since when is finding happily ever after as simple as Just Writing Back?
Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, Sara Lewis Holmes's enchanting debut novel is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel's quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in.
Synopsis
Once upon a time, there was a girl. Let's call her Rapunzel. A modern-day version. Abandoned. Alone. Waiting for her hair to grow and dreaming of a way to escape from her tower. She was trapped, you see. Not in the conventional fairy-tale way—this was the dreaded after-school Homework Club. A desolate place, where no gum could be chewed, and where Rapunzel sat day after day, cursing the evil spell that had been cast over her father. The doctors called it something else, but a true heroine can smell an evil spell a mile away. So when a mysterious letter addressed to P.O. Box #5667 falls into her hands, she knows she's found the pea under her mattress. But since when is finding happily ever after as simple as Just Writing Back?
Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, Sara Lewis Holmes's enchanting debut novel is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel's quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in.
Publishers Weekly
This moving debut novel, winner of the first Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, unfolds as a series of letters, fairytale-inspired stories and tongue-in-cheek school assignments all penned by an intelligent girl who calls herself Rapunzel. After her beloved poet father is hospitalized with clinical depression (what she calls "the Evil Spell"), she finds a soul-baring letter her father had written, addressed to a post office box. She decides to write notes to the P.O. box too, hoping that the recipient will respond and "together we can rescue him" [her father]. She confides in another letter that she identifies with Rapunzel ("She's not much of a heroine just a victim in a tower") because she, too, feels "stuck." The plot gains new dimension when she finds, tucked into her father's dictionary, a clipping announcing that an old bridge is for sale and scheduled for dismantling and later learns its significance to her father. Rapunzel (whose fitting real name, revealed late in the novel, is Cadence) pours out her pain and hope in equal measure, as she holds out for the "Happy Ending" that doesn't entirely emerge. The narrator's missives take on the conversational tone characteristic of middle graders, and many poignant passages as the heroine struggles with her father's illness, as well as the mysterious identity of the P.O. box owner, will keep thoughtful readers involved. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationEditorials
Publishers Weekly
This moving debut novel, winner of the first Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, unfolds as a series of letters, fairytale-inspired stories and tongue-in-cheek school assignments—all penned by an intelligent girl who calls herself Rapunzel. After her beloved poet father is hospitalized with clinical depression (what she calls "the Evil Spell"), she finds a soul-baring letter her father had written, addressed to a post office box. She decides to write notes to the P.O. box too, hoping that the recipient will respond and "together we can rescue him" [her father]. She confides in another letter that she identifies with Rapunzel ("She's not much of a heroine—just a victim in a tower") because she, too, feels "stuck." The plot gains new dimension when she finds, tucked into her father's dictionary, a clipping announcing that an old bridge is for sale and scheduled for dismantling—and later learns its significance to her father. Rapunzel (whose fitting real name, revealed late in the novel, is Cadence) pours out her pain and hope in equal measure, as she holds out for the "Happy Ending" that doesn't entirely emerge. The narrator's missives take on the conversational tone characteristic of middle graders, and many poignant passages as the heroine struggles with her father's illness, as well as the mysterious identity of the P.O. box owner, will keep thoughtful readers involved. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationKLIATT -
The publishers suggest this book for readers age 8—12. Because Rapunzel (aka Cadence) is a brilliant young teenager trying to make sense of her father's mental illness, it seems to me this story is best for readers 11—14, especially articulate girls. This is a first novel by the author and the winner of the 2004 Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest. The format of the story is a series of letters written by Cadence to an unknown person at a local post office box—she signs the letters with her assumed name, Rapunzel. After her father is hospitalized, she finds a torn letter he had written to this PO address and decides to continue the correspondence even though she has no idea who the recipient is. A bit awkward, but it works rather like a journal or diary entries. Part of Cadence's problem is that no one is telling her details about her father's illness; she sees herself as Rapunzel trapped in a tower and isolated, hoping someone will come along to "rescue" her and set her free. Cadence writes frequently about her school experiences, her frustration with her mother, her fears about her father. Some of the letters are wildly funny, especially those around school situations. A counselor gets Cadence tested to discover that she belongs in the gifted and talented class (Cadence calls this a class for deviants); this is a surprise to many since she is such a poor student, with difficulty following instructions and paying attention in class. When all is said and done, I believe this is a story as much about a family in crisis as it is about understanding a girl such as Cadence whose imagination and ability with language set her so far apart from her classmates. She is endearing,and Holmes does a good job bringing her to life for her readers.Children's Literature -
Locked up in a tower (also known as the afterschool Homework Club) because of the evil spell that has taken her father away (clinical depression), Rapunzel (Cadence) writes letters to a post office box, hoping that someone will read them and tell her how to save him. Not only letters, but imaginative versions of homework assignments, reworkings of old fairy tales, math problems, and even appeals to the editor of the newspaper accompany the narrative and help reveal the intelligence and quirkiness of this appealing twelve-year-old who views her life through the lens of the stories her father used to tell her. Subplots include Cadence's disinclination to join the GT program and her campaign to save a landmark bridge slated for destruction. Underneath the light tone is a serious subject; although Cadence knows her father is ill, she wasn't told that he had attempted suicide. The details of his illness are accurate but the focus is on Cadence's successful efforts to cope. Briskly paced and consistently and gently humorous, this winner of the Ursula Nordstrom First Fiction contest should win plenty of middle school readers.School Library Journal
Gr 5–8"In the real world, you can only understand your life backwards," writes Cadence Brogan to #5667, the unknown post-office-box holder with whom she begins a one-sided correspondence. After finding the number on a mysterious torn piece of a letter written in her father's hand, she feels somehow that this is the key to unlocking the secrets surrounding her. Cadence sees her life as a modern-day fairy tale in which she is Rapunzel, alone, abandoned, and waiting for answers. Her father's clinical depression she terms the Evil Spell; the teacher at the after-school Homework Center is dubbed the Wicked Witch. Through a series of journal-like writings to the elusive #5667, she comes to terms with her life and begins to understand her father's illness. Although the plot loses momentum at times, Holmes carries the story to a satisfying ending through realistic, insightful dialogue and her ability to develop a bright, capable character in Cadence. Reluctant readers will be drawn to the short chapters. The novel could be therapeutic for those children who must deal with the far-reaching effects of a parent's illness while experiencing the universal angst of adolescence. Cadence leaves readers with the wisdom that one must rescue oneself before rescuing others.
—D. Maria LaRoccoCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.