Towering

May 13, 2013
Flinn (Beastly, Cloaked) again puts a modern spin on a classic fairy tale. In this Rapunzel retelling, Wyatt, a teen mourning the devastating loss of his best friend and his best friend's sister, moves to a remote town where his mother grew up. There, living in a large house with a lonely old woman whose only child disappeared years ago, Wyatt has vivid nightmares and hears a haunting singing voice that seems meant for him alone. When he meets Rachel, a beautiful girl locked in a crumbling tower out in the forest, they begin to untangle an even larger mystery plaguing the area. Flinn upturns some gender conventions (Rachel initially leaves her tower to save Wyatt from drowning), but the blending of magical elements and the more banal modern story lines is not always harmonious, and the copious back-story saps momentum from the present-day plot. By the time Wyatt and Rachel finally face off against the town's most wicked villain, some readers may be anxious for a speedy happily-ever-after. Ages 14âup. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic.

July 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Flinn reinvents the "Rapunzel" story as a teen thriller. Rachel spends her days and nights alone in a tower. Her sole contact with humanity is the daily visit of "Mama," and Rachel both loves and rebels against her jailor. Then Wyatt arrives in town. His mother is hoping that he will begin to recover from his friends' deaths in a car accident. He can't understand why no one in this small town seems perturbed by the number of missing teenagers, one of whom was his mother's best friend. He also can't understand why he is apparently the only one who can hear a girl singing somewhere in the frozen woods. When he sets out to find her, he puts into motion a chain of events that leads him, Rachel, and her "mother" into a showdown with violent drug manufacturers and their imprisoned labor force. Flinn cleverly weaves fantasy and realism together into what seems to be almost a new genre. Rather than the cop-out of a dystopian future setting, her story is grounded in the reality of an upstate New York where unemployment is rife, it is always winter, and there is no cell-phone service. Teens will identify and sympathize with Wyatt's loss and Rachel trapped in her tower, and they will rejoice in the tenderness of their blooming romance amid the menace of drug violence. The author's skillful writing somehow makes it completely plausible that sweetness, innocence, and true love can survive within the contemporary social evils of addiction and abduction-and also that Rachel's golden tresses can grow to reach the ground overnight.-Jane Barrer, United Nations International School, New York City

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2013
Grades 8-11 Flinn (Bewitching, 2012) is back with yet another clever spin on a fairy tale. This time, it's an empowering retelling of the story of Rapunzel. Rachel, an ethereal beauty with fast-growing hair, is trapped in a tower and visited only by the woman she calls Mama. Meanwhile, Wyatt flees his hometownand his pastafter a heartbreaking tragedy befalls his best friends, and he lands at old lady Greenwood's house in a sleepy, desolate Adirondack town with its own share of secrets. After hearing a haunting voice from the woods, and piqued by the diaries of Mrs. Greenwood's long-lost daughter, Wyatt wanders into the forest and finds Rachel's tower. Together, they unlock the secret of Rachel's origin and the purpose of her mysterious powers. This has well-rounded characters, including Rachel, who is no damsel in distress but a formidable heroine in her own right, and a fast pace. Plenty of hard realismdrug use, domestic abuse, and teen pregnancymakes this retelling more than just a fantasy. Luckily for happily-ever-after fans, Towering doesn't skimp on the fairy-tale ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2013
A contemporary retelling of "Rapunzel" overcomes a somewhat connect-the-dots feel with its gentle, spirited heroine. The tale is told in two voices: Rachel's, the blonde girl in the tower, and Wyatt's, a boy with a secret sorrow. Wyatt has been sent to upstate New York to stay with the mother of an old friend of his mom's, Mrs. Greenwood, to heal from something readers don't learn about until halfway through the story. Meanwhile Rachel, who loves the woman she calls "Mama" although she knows her real mother is dead, begins to chafe against her confinement and her loneliness, although Mama visits her each day with food, books and art supplies. Wyatt finds the diary of Mrs. Greenwood's daughter Danielle, presumed long-dead, and begins to tie together strands that include missing teens, drug addiction, demon lovers and tears that heal. Flinn's "towering" achievement here is Rachel. She makes readers believe in a character educated only on books brought to her and who has not been outside in years. Readers will understand how she reacts as she does to a cellphone, to walking in snow and to hair that grows so fast she can see it, and they will find her both intelligent and resourceful. Rachel and Wyatt's romantic encounters are tender and utterly implicit. Readers may pick it up for the reimagined fairy tale, but they'll remember it for Rachel. (Fantasy. 12-18)

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July 1, 2013
In this dark take on "Rapunzel," Rachel, who possesses healing tears and rapidly growing hair, has been trapped in a tower for most of her life. When she meets Wyatt, they fall in love. Romantic and atmospheric, the novel effectively contrasts Wyatt's modern-day narration with Rachel's old-fashioned voice; it's rewarding to follow Rachel's growth into a courageous, take-charge protagonist.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
Flinn, known for her contemporary re-imaginings of fairy tales (Beastly; Bewitching, rev. 3/12), delivers a dark take on "Rapunzel," with nary a "let down your hair" in sight. Rachel, who possesses healing tears and (yes) rapidly growing hair, has been trapped in a tower in remote Slakkill, New York, for most of her life; a person she calls "Mama" is her only human contact. Despite her imprisonment, she knows that "there was something else I had to do, something so important that only I could do it." Meanwhile, Long Island teen Wyatt arrives in Slakkill to live with elderly Mrs. Greenwood, whose daughter inexplicably disappeared seventeen years ago. When the two meet -- Rachel climbs down a rope made from her hair to rescue Wyatt from drowning -- they quickly fall in love. And the mysteries behind who Rachel is, what she must do, and how Mrs. Greenwood and her daughter are connected are solved, one by one. Romantic and atmospheric, the novel effectively contrasts Wyatt's modern-day narration with Rachel's dreamy, old-fashioned voice. Her bond with Wyatt ultimately gives Rachel the strength to fulfill her destiny, which involves two evil brothers who run a magical drug farm staffed by addicted workers. It's strange, to be sure, but it's rewarding to follow Rachel's growth into a courageous protagonist in charge of her own fate. rachel l. smith

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)