Bibliographic Citation
Hale, S. and Hale, D. Rapunzel's revenge. New York: Bloomsbury.
Summary
A graphic novel about a little girl that grew up behind a wall for twelve years. On her twelfth birthday she climbed to the top of the wall and looked over. There was desolate land with mine workers. She remembered when she saw her real mother that she had been stolen and raised by a mean woman who named her Rapunzel. Mother Gothel's henchman carried Rapunzel for many days to a tall creepy tree. She stayed there until she was sixteen. With her long hair she lassoed a tree and escaped to the forest floor and lasoed a boar which she intended to ride back to Mother Gothel and make her pay for her mistreatment. Along the way she met Jack and Goldy the Goose and they had many adventures getting back to Mother Gothel. They became outlaws. They met a jackalope, met indians, fought wolves, and fought a sea monster, helped some miners. Finally they made it to Mother Gothel's.. But Rapunzel was recognized and Mother Gothel cut off her hair. Jack plants a magic beanstalk and Mother Gothel is captured in her own magic tree.Rapunzel finds her mother, Jack kisses her and tells her he loves her and Goldy lays the golden egg.
Impressions
A great book that I think would appeal to a boy or a girl. It is a good adventure story that keeps the reader wanting to turn the page to see Jack and Rapunzel's next ordeal. It could be compared to the typical Rapunzel story and also all the other hints of fairy tale or tall tale similarities.
Suggestions for use in a library setting
1.It could be used during a unit of the west because many of the characters and situations depict the old west adventure. In the library it could be shared chapter by chapter.
2. Make a list of other fairly tales or tall tales referred to in the story.
Reviews
Gr 5-8-- In this action-packed, graphic-novel reincarnation, Rapunzel escapes her tree-tower prison and winds up in a Wild West saloon, fighting alongside a goose-toting Jack (think Beanstalk). Together, the two brave danger, save the world from evil, and fall in love. Whew! BOOK
Rapunzel's revenge. (2009). School Library Journal, 55(3), 9.
The popular author of Princess Academy teams with her husband and illustrator Hale (no relation) for a muscular retelling of the famously long-haired heroine's story, set in a fairy-tale version of the Wild West. The Hales' Rapunzel, the narrator, lives like royalty with witchy Mother Gothel, but defies orders, scaling villa walls to see what's outside--a shocking wasteland of earth-scarring mines and smoke-billowing towers. She recognizes a mine worker from a recurrent dream: it's her birth mother, from whom she was taken as punishment for her father's theft from Mother G.'s garden. Their brief reunion sets the plot in motion. Mother G. banishes Rapunzel to a forest treehouse, checking annually for repentance, which never comes. Rapunzel uses her brick-red braids first to escape, then like Indiana Jones with his whip, to knock out the villains whom she and her new sidekick, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), encounter as they navigate hostile territory to free Rapunzel's morn from peril. Illustrator Hale's detailed, candy-colored artwork demands close viewing, as it carries the action--Rapunzel's many scrapes are nearly wordless. With its can-do heroine, witty dialogue and romantic ending, this graphic novel has something for nearly everybody. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Rapunzel's revenge. (2008). Publishers Weekly, 255(31), 63.
Gr 5 Up-- This is the tale as you've never seen it before. After using her hair to free herself from her prison tower, this Rapunzel ignores the pompous prince and teams up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) in an attempt to free her birth mother and an entire kingdom from the evil witch who once moonlighted as her "mother." Dogged by both the witch's henchman and Jack's outlaw past, the heroes travel across the map as they right wrongs, help the oppressed, and generally try to stay alive. Rapunzel is no damsel in distress-she wields her long braids as both rope and weapon-but she happily accepts Jack's teamwork and friendship. While the witch's castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after.
von Wrangel Kinsey, C. (2008). Rapunzel's revenge. School Library Journal, 54(9), 215.
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