Hale, Hannon and Dean Hale. Rapunzel’s Revenge. Bloomsbury: New York, 2008.
ISBN: 1-59990-288-5
In this amalgam of fairy tales Rapunzel is being raised by Mother Gothel in a beautiful villa in the Old West. Rapunzel is regarded as Gothel’s heir, but she finds out that she was kidnapped as a child from her true parents because they stole vegetables from Gothel’s garden. Rapunzel soon turns defiant of her situation and is imprisoned for four years in a magically grown tree with a hollowed out room on the top of it. While she is imprisoned, Rapunzel’s hair and nails grow ever faster until she has the idea to use her hair to escape her prison and get revenge on Mother Gothel. When she is successful, she runs into a funny looking woman and her goose named Goldy that run into trouble, whom she helps by snapping her braids on the hoodlums. Soon she finds out the funny looking woman is really a boy named Jack and he has some problems with giants back east. He agrees to help her with Gothel if she protects them on the journey. As they journey back to Gothel’s villa they run into a few characters such as Witchy Jasper and the Duggars. When finally they get to the villa they sneak in but are caught. Mother Gothel cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and imprisons her and Jack. How will Rapunzel and Jack escape Mother Gothel’s clutches?
Both pre-teens and teens will appreciate this look at a different interpretation of the Rapunzel tale. Teens will look to the adventure and action of the story as a journey that will keep them hooked. Teen girls will also get a kick out of Rapunzel constantly saving the Jack-in-distress! The illustrations by Nathan “No Relation” Hale are wonderfully detailed and truly bring the world to life. Readers may get lost in the pictures and forget to read the text, as I did!
The September 2008 issue of the School Library Journal says of Rapunzel’s Revenge: “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.” Readers will want to check out the companion book, Calamity Jack.
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