Bloody Good: Adam Gidwitz’s ‘A Tale Dark & Grimm’ is one of the year’s best books
RSS| Photograph by Matt Carr/Getty Images for SLJ. |
Your first novel follows the wild, wacky, and often blood-splattered adventures of Hansel and Gretel. What triggered that idea?
It all started when I was teaching a second-grade class [at Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn, NY]. I did a storytelling unit and I invited my principal in. My principal is this brilliant, lovely lady, and she’s just wonderful with kids. She opened up a big, thick version of Grimm’s fairy tales, and she started reading a story called “The Seven Ravens.” In my book, I retell that story; it’s called “The Seven Swallows.” If you remember, at the end of it, Gretel cuts off her own finger. So my principal got to that part and my kids’ jaws dropped open. I had a quick moment of panic, like I was going to be fired for letting my kids hear this story. Then I remembered, of course, that my boss was telling it, so we were OK. But the kids were shocked, and then just entranced. So I thought, Ha! These fairy tales are kind of interesting.
Your narrator knows exactly how to pique kids’ interest, especially when he suggests they stop reading because the story is about to get scary. How’d you come up with that?
I was supposed to tell a story to some second and third graders, and I didn’t know what to tell them. I’d been reading through Grimm’s fairy tales ever since my principal had read that story to us. And there was another one, “Faithful Johannes,” in which Hansel’s and Gretel’s heads get cut off by their parents. I read the kids a translation that was sort of wonky—not all of the details were filled in to our satisfaction. So I kept having to stop and explain things. Or, I would stop and make a joke. In the story, there are all these false endings, where you think everything’s over and then it keeps going. So I started saying things like “The end.”
Which, of course, your narrator also says prematurely.
The kids were laughing and were into it. Then at the end, they were saying, “That’s so good! We loved it!” They knew that I was working on another story [about ancient Egypt] and one of the girls—I remember this very clearly—said, “You should make this into a book.”
I heard you were a real troublemaker as a middle schooler in Baltimore.
Oh, boy. You’re going to get me in trouble. Mostly, I was not particularly interested in doing what the teacher asked me to do. You know what? If you’ll give me a second, I actually have a report that an eighth-grade teacher gave me.
Can you read one of the comments?
This is probably the best one: “Yesterday, Adam was working with his partner on a test, which was due at the end of the period. I was floating between my room and the library, where some students were working. Once, when returning to my room, Adam was eating and walking around. The second time I returned, Adam was chatting with a nonpartner. During class, Adam took my book, which he had borrowed two weeks ago, and threw it at a student. Then Adam handed in his test half an hour early, though it was incomplete.” I don’t know exactly what was wrong with me, but there was clearly something wrong.
What was your parents’ reaction?
My parents have always been super supportive and they’re wonderful. I know what you’re getting at: Where did all these horrible parents in my novel come from?
It may have crossed my mind.
My parents were a little bit worried that they’d see themselves in the book. And I can’t deny that they did find themselves here and there. [Laughter] But that’s all right.
Rick Margolis is SLJ's executive editor. To read a starred review of A Tale Dark & Grimm (Dutton), visit our "Grades 5 & Up" book review section.
