My Very UnFairy Tale Life

Gr 5—7—Staniszewski throws a whole lot at readers in this debut novel, including unicorns, a scary clown, energy beams, talking frogs, a gnome, and a monster that looks something like "a dragonfly and a submarine" and has a penchant for jewelry. While this sounds like there's potential for a rollicking good time, the end result is more silly than funny. The book is a mishmash of ham-handed scenes, underdeveloped backstories, and tangential plot lines buzzing around the bizarre domination of a kingdom of talking animals by Klarr, the scary clown. As a designated "adventurer," Jenny has been commanded to save the kingdom. She travels back and forth between the magical world and that of a normal teen, and the two occasionally intersect. This book will likely elicit some goofy laughs from the tween set, so it can be considered for an additional purchase if there's money in the budget to spare.—Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR