Off the Page

Gr 7 Up—Picoult and van Leer dive back into the realm of fairy tales coming true in this companion to Between the Lines (Delacorte, 2012). Storybook prince turned real-life boyfriend, Oliver, has started high school with his true love, Delilah. Despite a few social mishaps, Oliver (being referred to as Edgar, whose place he had to take in order to escape the pages of the book) finds himself on the fast track to popularity, much to Delilah's chagrin. The two have just started to work through their new problems, when they discover something is wrong in the book from which Oliver originated. The story seems to be rewriting itself and the real Edgar (who took Oliver's place in the story) doesn't know how to lead the other characters. Soon, bigger problems arise, with more real-life beings and storybook characters switching places unintentionally, and the book's author, Edgar's mom, Jessamyn, falling ill. Is happily ever after a dream still out of reach? Readers need to have read the first title in order to follow the plot and they will easily find themselves pulled back into the world of Oliver, Delilah, and Edgar. Strong narrative voices keep the alternating chapters from becoming confusing, and the cultural references are spot-on, although they may cause the book to feel dated in a short time.