Skip to main content

Flunked



Image result for flunked publisher
Flunked

Flunked by Jen Calonita is a spin on all of your favorite fairy-tales, while incorporating some new details as well.

Plot Summary:

Gilly is a thief. Let me rephrase that, a “minor” thief. But she steals for a good reason, right? She steals for her family, a poor, rag-tag, group of people who live in a very cramped boot. Her father, is a shoemaker who was the actual inventor of the glass slipper. Now Princess Ella’s fairy godmother can make them with a flick of her wand, but her family must put in a lot of work for just a standard boot, much less a glass slipper they created. But she does not just steal from anybody. She steals items from people who can live without them. Taking back what is rightfully her’s and her family’s. She steals from royals. She steals anything from dragon tooth clips to day old bread. One day, this has never happened before and she swears it will never happen again, she gets caught by the Enchantasia Police. (An initiative headed up by Princess Ella or Cinderella.) She is immediately sent to FTRS. (Fairy Tale Reform School) Fairy Tale Reform School is a school to reform former criminals, thieves, killers, and, most importantly, villains. But, is Gilly really a criminal? Three minor offenses, really? (That she had been caught on.) That’s all it took to get her sent for who knows how long to a reform school who’s headmaster is the former stepmother of one of their beloved princesses. She has to get back to her family and soon. If she doesn’t, her siblings will not have enough to eat or will not get to have a treat once in a while.

Author Praise:

Jen Calonita’s characters come alive, once again. Gilly and Samantha Montgomery’s, the main character of the beloved Sleepaway Girls also by Jen Calonita, voices are very similar despite the two completely different stories. The best part of this entire book was setting. Because the setting is not realistic, Ms. Calonita has to use a lot of description and she succeeds. My favorite setting in the book was FTRS. The school was huge and it would be exciting to see. The ending did not do the entire story prior justice. The ending did not resolve everything, especially the climax. The ending was pretty disappointing.

Rating and Reasoning:
I give this book three stars. The plot, characters, and setting were all very well developed. The ending, however, was very disappointing.

Audience: 5th graders to 6th graders
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Date Published: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 9781492601562
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Author Spotlight: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley At my school, I am a Library Leader. (Library Leaders promote reading in the middle school and recommend books for the younger grades.) The Library Leaders had the fortunate opportunity of eating lunch and meeting with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. We got to ask her questions and just talk with her. Mrs. Bradley also spoke to the whole seventh and eighth grade in assembly about her research. 1)      When/How does she write? Mrs. Bradley writes in the morning, but this depends on her chores for the day. She got into her routine when her children, now graduating college and out of college, were small and went to school. She would always wait until her husband took them to drop them off at school. She likes for her writing space to be very quiet. She prefers typing when she when she writes as to writing. (This may be pretty common; I do not know what the common format among writers is today. I just thought I would include eve...
Post a Comment
Read more

2020 So Far In Books

Thus far this year, I have read more books than in any previous year, recorded on this blog or not. Whether my goal to read a lot this year or quarantine fueled my reading, my list is long (not the longest, but long enough to be very proud of). I will start doing these reports on a regular basis. It keeps me accountable to you all in my reading.  I have read 15 books as of the end of July 2020. Here are a couple of charts and statistics that represent the group.  Links of those that I HAVE reviewed are below: http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-murder-on-links.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/07/an-inspector-calls.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/07/all-kings-men.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/07/head-over-heels.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-great-gatsby.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-man-in-high-castle.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-abc-murders.html http://betweenp.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-importance-of-be...
1 comment
Read more

BTP's ROMANCE Book Pet Peeves

In January, I shared a list of Bookish Pet Peeves . Well it's July, and I am back with more pet peeves but this time relating to romance books. Let me know if you think any of these things are nerve-shredding too.  Romance is a genre with many tropes (enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forced proximity, etc.). A very frequently used theme for romance books is the classic "opposites fall in love" or become really good friends in the beginning. While I have read books with this trope and liked them, I don't fully understand how this is supposed to work. If two people "are polar opposites" (as some back covers report), how did they meet or become friends (much less lovers)? Shared experience is how I've met almost everyone I know, so if two people "have nothing in common," they couldn't have become even acquaintances.  If the protagonist has a "unique name" - I'm out. O-U-T. Any Pepperidges, Zeldas, or Evies, and I can't g...
Post a Comment
Read more