Adaptations of Oz (Fantasy with Friends)

03/16/202602/18/20262 Comments

Fantasy with Friends is a meme hosted here at Pages Unbound that poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works. Feel free to leave a comment, even if you are not participating this week! And, if you are participating, remember to comment with your link! (See the shedule for future discussion topics here.)

This Week’s Prompt: Do you have a favorite interpretation of Oz? Do you try to fit the different adaptations together, or do you see them as separate entities? (Do you try to make Wicked make sense with The Wizard of Oz? And do you think of the book or the movie versions in those instances?)

This Week’s Participants

Response

I should perhaps begin with the disclaimer that I am not the biggest Oz fan. I did grow up watching the 1939 The Wizard of Oz movie, and I have the fondest memory of that version, in spite of spending half my childhood terrified of the Wicked Witch of the West. It would perhaps be better to say that eventually I came around to appreciating it; it was certainly not love at first sight.

I read L. Frank Baum’s novel probably sometime in late elementary or early middle school, and . . . I thought it was odd. One of the rare cases where one finds the movie is an improvement on the source material. I did actually read a couple more books in the series, mainly because I thought it was the sort of thing I ought to do at the time. I wanted to really experience the classic series, or something of that nature. After reading maybe two or three of the other novels, however, I gave up, as I continued mainly to think them strange and not really great reading material.

As for Wicked, it has always bothered me because it clearly does not fit into the events of The Wizard of Oz. (I DNF’ed the book, saw the musical on Broadway years ago, and watched Part 1 of the movie.) I saw someone once explain it’s actually “fan fiction” of Oz, rather than a prequel in any real sense, and I believe that’s the correct way to approach it. One can see the work playing with ideas that are presented in The Wizard of Oz, but those ideas don’t actually mesh with the source material. And, I guess parts of it are fun? But personally I often dislike works that try to convince me the villain of a story was not the villain and the “good guy” was really the villain. It’s an entertaining approach, in theory, but in reality it grates on me. I do not want to see the original work and think, “Oh, the bad guy is secretly good and has a point.” Sometimes that ruins something about the work for me.

I haven’t seen any of the other movies, such as Oz the Great and Powerful. In the end, I don’t find the world of Oz that compelling. It’s not something I want to revisit or reimagine. The 1939 movie was good enough for me, and I have never felt an urge to explore this particular fantasy world more.

Alice with a Why by Anna James

03/15/202601/31/20261 Comment

Silhouette of a young girl with hair flying behind her. She is surrounded by a border of flowers with a rabbit.

Information

Goodreads: Alice with a Why
Series: None
Age Category: Middle Grade
Source: Library
Published: 2025

Summary

Alyce–with a “Y”–never believed in her grandmother’s stories about Wonderland. Then an invitation hits her in the face, asking her to a very odd tea party. Soon, Alyce is on a quest to resolve the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. But she doesn’t really understand what she’s doing or where she is going. And the world she is in does not seem to make much sense.

Review

I admit I never really loved Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, so I felt a bit hesitant picking up this sequel of sorts. Alice with a Why, however, is nothing short of charming. The story captures the whimsy and wordplay of the original, while adding (I think) a bit of heart the original lacks. A winning addition to the collection of middle grade fantasy lovers!

Matching the spirit of Alice in Wonderland would, I assumed, be difficult, but Anna James accomplishes it flawlessly. James strikes just the right balance of writing things that sound like nonsense, but almost sort of make sense if you squint. The book also features plenty of callbacks to the original Alice, and even some poetry. I was impressed by the dedication to getting this book right!

I think I enjoyed Alice with a Why more than its inspiration, however, for two reasons. Firstly, Alyce meets a guide who seems perfectly reasonable. This balances out the nonsense of the other characters, and helps ground the story. Alice in Wonderland sometimes feels like a random adventure meant to revel in wordplay and everything unserious. So having a guide who speaks more intelligibly and who can answer Alyce’s questions can help orient the reader and give some relief to those who, like Alyce, just want someone to take her confusion and distress seriously.

Secondly, Alice with a Why feels like a journey with a destination, as it is grounded in Alyce’s loss of her father in WWI. The war in Wonderland between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon gives Alyce space to think about the war in her own world, and its effects. Readers can tell that Alyce is still processing the death not only of her father, but also of the entire war. Her chance to help the people of Wonderland resolve their crisis is a chance for her to acknowledge her own experience back home. This makes the book feel a little bittersweet, as Alyce learns how to say goodbye.

Alice with a Why is a phenomenal read, a beautiful homage to Lewis Carroll’s work, but also a brilliant fantasy in its own right. I highly recommend it to readers who love middle grade fantasy!

The Watsons by Jane Austen

03/14/202601/04/20261 Comment

Information

Goodreads: Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Source: Library
Published: 1871

Summary

In this unfinished story (believed to have been begun around 1803), Jane Austen follows the fortunes of Emma Watson, newly returned to her humble family after having been raised by a wealthy aunt. Emma inspires interest in a number of eligible young men, but seems poised to have difficulties, as her family’s behavior embarrasses her and her financial circumstances are poor.

Review

Oh, how I wish Jane Austen had finished The Watsons! This story seems poised to have been among some of Austen’s best work, as Emma Watson combines the idea of Fanny Price (raised away from her family by wealthy relatives) and Elizabeth Bennet (perpetually embarrassed by her family’s improprieties). Unlike Fanny, however, Emma finds herself thrown back into much poorer circumstances when her aunt decides to remarry, thus dashing Emma’s hopes of a good inheritance. This seems like a wonderful setup for Emma to navigate, as readers see that she is accustomed to more refined behavior (and living) than her family demonstrates. I was so looking forward to Emma spurning the advances of a young lord in favor of a vicar! Not something one expects in a romance! Alas, readers must be content with the fragment Austen left.

Even though the work remains unfinished, one can see all the hallmarks of Austen’s style. The Watsons is richly populated with a number of characters, many of whom earn Austen’s censure and ridicule. Emma’s younger sisters, for instance, feel reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters Lydia and Kitty, as they eagerly seek husbands, sometimes pushing themselves forwards and sometimes quitting the neighborhood in hopes of exciting feelings of loss and regret in the breasts of their latest crushes. Meanwhile, Emma’s crass brother and sister-in-law can only think about money and look superior. And her aunt is depicted as having made a very foolish second marriage and running off with an officer. How I longed to spend more time with these characters and see how they all end up!

However, The Watsons is not all satire. One catches, at times, a glimpse of Austen’s more thoughtful nature. Emma’s sister Elizabeth, the most “normal” of the siblings, speaks at length about how she wishes to be married, as a woman must if she will not be laughed at. And one senses that Elizabeth’s desire for a husband is not to be condemned like her younger sisters’. Her desire comes out of more maturity, and a knowledge that her ailing father cannot provide for her once he dies. She would accept a respectable marriage, even without love, if it meant she could live in some comfort. I felt very sorry for Elizabeth, and wished Austen would follow up this line of thought a little more. Because even though Austen’s heroines ultimately marry for love, she always does make sure to give them money, too.

The Watsons would have been a really fascinating book, had it been finished. Austen seems to grapple a bit more directly with poverty here, even moreso than in her other books. (Certainly Fanny Price has no money, but one senses she is never about to be thrown into the street–her uncle will leave her something. And Elizabeth and her sisters will not inherit their father’s estate, but do seem relatively secure about getting married to someone. They have not the urgency that one believes Emma Watson must.) I would have loved to see how all this played out, and how Emma would have likely rejected the wealthy Lord Osborne in keeping with her tastes and principles. But, sadly, all readers now can do is imagine the ending for themselves.

US Schools Are Still Doing a Lot to Support Reading – But No One Seems to Know It

03/13/202602/18/202610 Comments

I am a big proponent of encouraging literacy in kids and increasing literacy rates, as recent reports have shown that fewer and fewer kids are reading for fun and many adults report reading only 1-4 books per year, if any. However, the discussions I see around how schools and society in general can improve the situation reveal that many people have ideas who . . . may not actually know what is currently happening in American schools. Being more informed can only help all of us, and it would certainly keep us from spending time proposing we should do things that, well, we already are doing. And those things are obviously NOT the final solutions, since we’re doing them and they’re not fully working.

Phonics and the return of phonics to schools has been in the news a lot recently, rightly so, but I wrote an entire post outlining the issue that many schools DO currently teach phonics and have been teaching phonics for years. The reading scores for all of those schools are not necessarily where educators would like them to be, however, so it seems clear that “just teach phonics” is not the only thing we need to be doing. It’s also hilarious when I see people screaming, “Bring back phonics!” when, in many cases, we HAVE brought back phonics. But no one seems to know.

Yet the list of things I have seen people claim that schools are “not doing” gets more ridiculous. (At least the idea that schools aren’t teaching phonics is rooted in truth, and some people have just missed the news that this situation has been turning around.) In just the past week of being on Twitter, I have seen people claim:

schools do not offer independent reading time
elementary schools do not have library class and do not let students pick out a book to read each week
the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! reading program no longer exists

As far as I can tell, the people making these claims generally do not say they have children or work in a school or know teachers as friends, etc. They have no actual experience with schools since their own days of being a student and are often just reacting to something they read online and making assumptions. And they sound confident enough that everyone else believes they know what they’re talking about and then agrees with them. Suddenly, you will find yourself reading a Twitter thread with 5k likes and 200 comments where everyone is agreeing that it’s true schools do not have independent reading time and do not have libraries, and it’s such a shame. AND, if only we brought those things back, literacy would be solved. Miraculously.

With the disclaimer that, yes, schools vary, I have to say that most schools have these things. If you find a parent of a third grader and actually talk to them, you will likely find their kid does have independent reading time and their school does have a library. In many cases, they will be given multiple books to take home and read each week, not just one. Even more excitingly, the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program still exists. Not every school participates in it, but they certainly could. You can also sign up as a parent or a homeschool parent.

Additionally, schools have taken up celebrating March Is Reading Month and will often have tons of activities planned around that, including prizes for reading and author visits. They will even give out free books students can keep!

I can’t speak for every school in the country, but I am very confident most of them are, in fact, trying to teach kids to read, using a wide variety of approaches and incentives.

So, if all these things are in fact happening that a lot of people are blithely assuming are not happening, there’s an open question of what more we need to do to encourage reading. It sounds fun to say, “If we brought back free pizzas, everyone would read!” But we still have the free pizza! And the free books. And the phonics. And libraries. And independent reading time. What more do we need to do?

My own guesses are the solutions involve more parental involvement and less time on screens, but I’m open to hearing more suggestions.

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

03/12/202601/19/20264 Comments

Information

Goodreads: The Railway Children
Series: None
Age Category: Middle Grade
Source: Library
Published: 1906

Summary

After their father unexpectedly leaves with a group of men, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis find their lives changed overnight. They have to leave their comfortable home for a new cottage near the railroad tracks. There, they have fun watching the trains come in and make friends with the workers. But they keep wondering where their father has gone and when he will return.

Review

The Railway Children was an unexpected delight. I had no idea what it was about, but felt inspired to try some more of E. Nesbit’s works after reading The Lark. I really enjoyed the old-fashioned pastimes of the children, who visit the railway and make friends with the locals. It was almost a disappointment when some of the more fairy tale-esque elements appeared. Still, The Railway Children is a charming read, the kind of book to curl up with on a rainy day.

One of the things I like about Nesbit is that she does not talk down to her readers. Her narrative voice often feels a bit knowing and the telling of the tale feels sophisticated. Part of this is that, I think, she remembers childhood. She takes it seriously, but she also takes childhood fantasies seriously. And she does not pretend her children are perfect. They have their faults, but it only makes them more grounded and likable. It is a rare author who can capture the joys and tribulations of childhood equally, and give them all their due importance.

I admit that I started to fall out of the story a bit when a certain character came to the rescue of the children one too many times. It is all right to have a fairy godmother of sorts, but the realism of the story starts to falter when too many incredible things happen. I was enamored of the daily lives of the children; I did not want their lives to turn into a fairy tale.

Still, The Railway Children is a wonderful read, just the type of book I enjoy. One where children of the past enjoy simple pleasures and go on fun adventures. I’d definitely like to try more of Nesbit’s fiction!

Popular Book Genres Seen as “Easy Reading” (Literary Inbox)

03/11/202602/18/202612 Comments

Rules

Literary Inbox is a monthly bookish meme created by 24hryabookblog where participants engage in discussion related to topics all about bookish trends, the evolving book industry or publishing, reading culture and recent conversations within the book community.

♦ Link back to the original creator’s post 24hryabookblog ┃Literary Inbox – Meme.
♦ Read through the prompts/topics and choose whichever is interesting to discuss (your choice whether to do one or both throughout the month!).
♦ Answer the prompts or questions.
♦ Share your discussion(s) on any weekday of the month.
♦ Tag book bloggers around the community.
♦ Link your monthly post to the original creator’s to share yours & discover other bloggers.

Prompt

Do you read from genres that others call “easy reads” or “quick to read”? When it comes to primarily women-led genres like Romance, Romantasy, YA or with visual literature like Graphic Novels can those labels be seen as reductive or insulting? Inspired by a recent #booktok, a creator mentioned certain books can be seen as “junk food” reads. Do you find that this “negative” connotation skews the opinion of a genre or category of books?

Response

Pesonally, the books I find “easiest to read” are literally all books written today. It doesn’t matter what genre it is — fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction, nonfiction — because often what makes it “easy” is simply that the prose is less dense than the prose in a lot of classics. I can understand Shakespeare and John Milton just fine, but I admit their works take me longer to read than most of what it is written today. Even when readers try to distinguish between contemporary authors who have “simple” prose vs. “lush” prose, I don’t think the “lush prose” is typically difficult to read in any real sense. So accusing one genre of being “easier” than another doesn’t really make much sense to me.

The only real distinguishing factor between today’s “easier” and “harder” books to me is how subtle the book is. In this case, I do think YA in particular has become extremely overt with its messaging. Some of this is in response to readers online several years ago starting campaigns against specific books they didn’t think had the messages they wanted. So authors/publishers have gone out of their way to make a book’s stance on certain topics extremely clear. The bad guy is declared the bad guy and someone gives a whole speech why he’s bad. If the mean character says something bigoted, someone gives a whole speech explaining that it is bigoted and that no one except the clearly mean character would ever agree with or say such a thing. Adult books are a little less likely to tell the reader what they are supposed to be thinking about what the characters are doing or what is happening in the book. Or the subtlety might be that you have to infer something that’s not really the “point of the book” but just something that’s happening. Maybe it’s never stated but you just have to infer based on what’s happening that a character’s actions are due to postpartum depression or infer that they were abused as a child based on hints. That is the main difference I see in books today. Does the book TELL me the character was abused because they don’t trust me to figure it out, or does the author leave me to conclude that on my own? And, again, whether a book lets the reader think about things or just tells them what to think and notice is not something that is determined by the book’s genre.

So, yes, I do think it’s reductive to call any specific genre “easy reads” or “junk food.” You can have books with complicated prose in any genre. You can have subtle books in any gere. You can have books with complex themes in any genre. And within every genre, you can still find people accusing specific books of being garbage even if they like the genre as a whole. Several weeks ago, I saw many people calling Brandon Sanderson’s books “the junk food of fantasy.” Personally, I think Sanderson’s books have interesting themes. They often have more interesting themes than the literary fiction I have come across. I recall reading more than one supposed “literary fiction” novel that was about nothing at all and just featured the main character living a listless life and having a lot of one night stands. I refuse to believe that’s “more difficult” to read or “more worthy” of being read than a fantasy novel.

Anyone who reads widely knows there are good and bad books in every genre.

The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman: The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma translated by Melanie Magidow

03/10/202602/24/20262 Comments

Information

Goodreads: The Tale of Princess Fatima
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Source: Purchased
Published: translation 2021

Official Summary

Published in English for the first time, and the only Arabic epic named for a woman, The Tale of Princess Fatima recounts the thrilling adventures of a legendary medieval warrior universally known throughout the Middle East and long overdue to join world literature’s pantheon of female heroes.

A Penguin Classic

A fearsome, sword-slinging heroine who defeated countless men in stealth attacks on horseback, Dhat al-Himma, or Princess Fatima, was secretly given away at birth because she wasn’t male, only to triumph as the most formidable warrior of her time. Known alternately as she-wolf, woman of high resolve, and calamity of the soul, she lives on in this rousing narrative of female empowerment, in which she leads armies of more than seventy thousand men in clashes between rival tribes and between Muslims and Christians; reconciles with her father after taking him prisoner; and fends off her infatuated cousin, who challenges her to a battle for the right to marry her. Though her cousin suffers an ignominious defeat, he impregnates Fatima against her will and, when she gives birth to a Black son, disowns his own son, who also grows up to be a great warrior, eventually avenging his mother’s honor. The epic culminates in a showdown between Fatima and another formidable woman warrior, and earns Fatima a place alongside the likes of Circe, Mulan, Wonder Woman, Katniss Everdeen and other powerful women.

Review

This title caught my eye as both an Arabic epic and a story focused on a woman warrior. While I’ve read many English and French medieval tales, I thought reading an Arabic epic would be interesting. (The exact dating of this tale seems uncertain; Wikipedia tells me scholars thinks it’s probably a response to the Crusades, with roots of the story dating from earlier.) Seeing Princess Fatima earn her reputation as a female warrior and seeing that accepted by her people rather than questioned or explained away (a Christian story would possibly suggest her power is only God’s power working in mysterious ways), is certainly fascinating.

The plot is interesting, following Fatima’s family through her birth and then the birth of her son, which becomes a major focus of the story, as he is conceived by rape by Fatima’s husband, whom she never wanted to marry. The child is then Black, while the two parents are not, and Fatima is accused of adultery and must clear her name over several chapters. I did expect the child’s appearance to come up later in the story, as questions of skin color are often related with ideas of faith or conversion in medieval texts from other cultures, but it really does just seem to be a vehicle to question Fatima’s morals. After all this is resolved, the child goes on to just become a legendary warrior in his own right doing normal legendary warrior things.

Fighting in general is the other focus of the story. Fatima proves herself over and over again and often seems to like fighting simply for the sake of it. She says that is her role, what she was made for. Often she fights to increase her people’s holdings and influence, defeating surrounding lords to gain their herds or servants. However, at one point she literally fights on behalf of the Christian emperor, who is being challenged by another Christian leader. The emperor is her own enemy usually, but once he’s challenged by someone rumored to be very strong and fierce, Fatima fights as the emperor’s champion because, apparently, she just wants to see if she can beat the other guy. Politics seem completely uninvolved. So readers get another epic fight scene of Princess Fatima being badass. Thematically, it’s confusing, but maybe I’m not supposed to care if the fight scene’s cool enough.

In terms of reading experience, this translation is only part of the epic, and you can really tell that it’s missing parts. There are time jumps between the different chapters, and while sometimes you can keep reading smoothly, the endig chapters are very confusing. Suddenly, the story is years in the future, talking about characters the reader has never heard of before. You can get a vague sense that, “Ok, this one guy is a famed commander who’s with them now for some unexplained reason,” but it’s still disorienting. And the final chapter suddenly becomes a lot more magical than anything that came before. While I enjoyed it as a standalone scene, it feels disconnected from the rest of the tale, and I wonder if anything that came before that was cut from this version might have made it seem more in place.

The translation itself is very modern, and while this makes it approachable and easy to read, there are times I laughed at these medieval characters saying phrases that are clearly straight from the 2000s. If you are looking for a translation that feels old and poetic, this may not be for you.

I had a good time reading this. Definitely look into it if you are seeking to diversify the classics you read.

Fantasy Retellings of Classic Books (Fantasy with Friends)

03/09/202603/09/20266 Comments

This Week’s Prompt: What are your thoughts on fantasy adaptations of classic literature that originally had no fantasy elements? (Ex. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A Far Better Thing, Kindred Dragons)

This Week’s Participants

I have to admit that I cannot think of many fantasy adaptations of classic literature that I have read, aside from Kindred Dragons and The Grace of Wild Things. I’m not sure if this is because not many exist (most adaptations seem to seek to modernize, not fantasize). Or if I am overlooking them because of some personal disinterest I subconsciously possess. However, based on my experience with Kindred Dragons, I do have some thoughts about what I would like to see in an adaptation that introduces new fantastical elements to a story.

Any adaptation of a work should, I believe, somehow add to the original story. It should help readers see the story in a new light. Perhaps draw out aspects that are easy to overlook in the original. Highlight characters who might not get much page time. Suggest that readers can keep coming back to the story and see something different.

Adaptations can do this in various ways. Some bring older works to contemporary settings, thus illustrating how the themes continue to be relevant and speak to readers. Many Shakespeare plays, for instance, are set in the present to do this (or, admittedly, sometimes to acknowledge that actors in Shakespeare’s day wore contemporary Elizabethan clothes for their costumes, rather than historical outfits). Some works try to explain “gaps” in the original work, like Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, which offers an explanation for why Cinderella obeyed her mean stepmother. Some stories try to reimagine the original from another perspective, perhaps making Cinderella’s stepsisters the heroines–or at least offering an explanation for their actions. But the adaptation needs to do something to justify its existence. Why this new take on the work instead of letting readers simply pick up the old take?

So a fantasy retelling of a classic work should offer me, the reader, some justification or reason for setting the story in this new world. What does including fantastical elements add to the story? How does it help me see the original in a new light?

Admittedly, Kindred Dragons did not impress me with any justification for its existence. It sets Anne of Green Gables (very, very loosely retold) in a world with dragons, but I have no idea why. If the author wanted to have a talkative young girl with an overactive imagination live in a world where some lucky girls are given dragon eggs, they could have done so without calling the book a retelling. After all, Kindred Dragons barely possesses any parallels to the original. Anne is called Alice. Her parents are still alive (just traveling). She does not really experience any episodes found in the original novel. The main similarity is the setting. This book did not need to be marketed as an Anne retelling at all.

Heather Fawcett’s The Grace of Wild Things follows Anne of Green Gables a little more closely, but I think it, too, could have simply been marketed as a regular fantasy rather than a retelling. It has Anne (Grace, here) run away to the woods to live with an evil witch, as she is tired of the orphanage and not fitting in. There are characters who are sort of like Diane and Gilbert. But the premise is Grace completing a quest to perform 100 and a half spells within a specified timeframe to avoid losing her magic forever. So, not much like Anne. The themes of friendship and belonging fit, but Anne is more of a coming-of-age story than a quest. I sadly do not think this retelling adds to my understanding or appreciation of L. M. Montgomery’s story at all.

I do think an adaptation set in a fantasy world solely for entertainment could be worthwhile, though. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is probably a good example (though I have only seen the film and barely remember it). In an adaptation like this, readers know going in that the whole thing is just supposed to be funny. The enjoyment is in seeing well-known characters do things they would never actually do. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is funny because it has staid and proper Regency ladies and gentlemen engaged in gory fights with the undead. It’s weird and that’s why it might be amusing to some people.

Kindred Dragons and The Grace of Wild Things do not bring that same kind of entertainment value for me because they are too loose of retellings. By the time the authors have changed all the names and added and removed characters and created entirely new plots, it doesn’t feel like Anne Shirely is meeting a dragon or becoming a witch. It’s just a talkative girl who shares some character traits with Anne Shirley doing these things. It’s an entirely different cast of characters along with an entirely different story.

I am open to more fantastical retellings of classic works. I just do not know that I have yet read one that I really loved.

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

03/08/202602/19/20267 Comments

The Trouble with Heroes Book Cover showing a boy with a hiker's backpack standing on top of a mountain next to a dog

Information

Goodreads: The Trouble with Heroes
Series: None
Age Category: Middle Grade
Source: Library
Published: 2025

Summary

Caught on camera kicking over the gravestone of a well-known hiker, Finn is offered a chance. The woman’s daughter offers to charges if Finn hikes all 46 Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog. At first, Finn has no interest–but it has to be better than the alternative. Along the way, he processes his feelings about his father, a firefighter and a hero in NYC after the September 11. A novel told in verse, along with cookie recipes and photographs.

Review

The Trouble with Heroes feels like the quintessential middle grade book. The type of book you rarely find anymore. One where the author seems to remember what it felt like growing up–but who is also aware of what childhood (and school) are like now. Sprinkle in some big questions, some big character growth, and a bunch of cookie recipes and you have a recipe for magic.

The first thing I love about The Trouble with Heroes is that it is told as a homework assignment from the protagonist, who has to demonstrate the ability to write several types of poems. In one stroke, you have 1) a realistic school assignment connecting readers to the character, 2) some education about types of poetry, and 3) a way for the protagonist to express himself (and his angst) in a fun yet convincing way. One of my pet peeves about contemporary middle grade books is that they do not seem to represent accurately current school experiences. I feel here like Kate Messner has come up with a plausible assignment and teacher.

I was also impressed by Messner’s ability to tie together many different threads (mostly seamlessly). The book is about Finn’s behavorial issues stemming from the grief over his father’s death. It also becomes a book about September 11 and PTSD. The nature of hero worship and the news cycle. The joy of nature and hiking. Forgiveness. Identity. Personal growth. It’s quite a feat to balance all this!

All these threads only start to strain a bit when Finn’s family’s bakery is suddenly announced to be in financial trouble and Finn needs a way to save it. The “saving the small family business” trope does not seem to be needed here, in a book predominantly about grief. But Messner manages to work it in, tying it back to Finn’s love of baking (with some hints about how his father disapproved of his baking). The book could have explored this disapproval some more, too–readers get two examples of Finn’s father wanting to reinforce traditional gender roles but no real commentary on this. Unless readers are supposed to connect the dots and see Finn’s cookie recipes as some part of his breaking free of his father’s influence and learning to accept himself. I’m not quite sure. The book feels a bit disconnected here, like it was going to say something, but stopped short.

On the whole, however, The Trouble with Heroes is an absolutely marvelous book. Messner drew me in with Finn’s distinctive voice, but also her clear love of hiking and the outdoors. It is has been quite some time since I read a middle grade book this good. It makes me want to go back to some of Messner’s backlist titles.

Keeper of the Lost Cities (The Graphic Novel), Vol. 1 Part 2 by Shannon Messenger, et al.

03/07/202601/04/20262 Comments

Information

Goodreads: Keeper of the Lost Cities The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1, Part 2
Series: Keeper of the Lost Cities GN #2
Age Category: Middle Grade
Source: Library
Published: December 2025

Summary

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster’s life changes forever the day a boy appears and reveals that she’s an elf and that she can learn to control her Telepathetic abilities if she leaves her world behind to train at a magical academy. But even as Sophie delights in the wonders of her new world, she worries about her past. Why was she sent to live with humans? Why is she capable of things no other elf can do? And why does she seem to remember things she’s never learned at all?

This graphic novel adaptation covers the second half of Keeper of the Lost Cities.

Read my review of Keeper of the Lost Cities (The Graphic Novel), Vol. 1 Part 1.

Review

This graphic novel adaptation has reignited my love for the Keeper of the Lost Cities series which, frankly, lost its way several books ago. This book, however, captures all the magic of the book that started it all. Even better, it feels more streamlined than the original. While the prose novels sometimes get self-indulgent about making jokes and focusing on non-essential banter, this graphic novel seems pretty character- and plot-focused, making me wonder if, in the end, I won’t prefer the graphic novel adaptations to the originals.

The art is very well done and, I think, pretty much captures the spirit of the books. It is no small task to attempt to represent a world meant to be “perfect” where everyone is beautiful and everyone wears gorgeous clothes. However, that intent comes across more or less. It feels a bit medieval-esque, which I enjoyed.

Fans of the original series will find a lot to love here. This adaptation is very faithful to the original and it is fun to see the artist’s interpretation of the characters and places. But, interestingly, I do think, as I wrote above, that, as the adaptations catch up with later books, there might actually be a real benefit to reading the graphic novels instead. The last book, 9.5 (actually book 11 in the series) seemed like it was one extensive joke about pancakes. I would love to see the graphic novel adaptation drop that and the juvenile banter entirely; the characters are supposed to be aging throughout the books and it just does not work anymore to have them acting like they are 12. So I’m actually strangely excited about reading the graphic novels even as I feel my desire to read the original series dropping with each new publication.