Ever After High (series) by Shannon Hale

This is a photo of my beautiful friend Sophia.  We are both fans of the new series by Shannon Hale -- Ever After High.  The first in the series The Storybook of Legends is what Sophia is showing you.  This photo was taken right after she finished reading it.   She just had to share her joy with me!  Friends like Sophia are such a blessing in my life.

In book one we meet Raven Queen, the daughter of the Evil Queen and Apple White, the daughter of Snow White.  These are two unlikely friends, since their story is that of the Evil Queen cursing Snow White so she will not get her "happily ever after."  Ever After High is where all the children of classic fairy tales attend high school.  Many things go on at this high school that happens in every high school, but some things are different.  For instance, they use mirrors as their phones...so instead of "texting" they have "hexing".  The children are tied to the stories of their parents and most are happy about that.  Raven is not. She does not want to be evil, she wants her own "happily ever after".  Raven wants to be able to make her own choices.  So, on the day each student pledges (signs the book of legends) to live the story that their parents lived, she does not sign the book.


This is where book two begins.  In The Unfairest of them All, because Raven did not sign the book of legends, the school is now divided.  The royals (those who want to live their parent's stories) are battling the rebels (those that do not want to live their parent's stories).  The royals have always had happy endings and they want that to continue.  The rebels are mostly the evil people in stories and do not have happy endings to their stories, they feel they should have a chance at obtaining a happy ending of their own.  As both sides argue and fight, a major food fight occurs which really gets principal Grimm angry.  Maddie, who is a mutual friend of Raven and Apple, finds herself in big trouble.  Maddie is the Madd Hatter's daughter.  She already feels out of place since she is not in Wonderland and now she is accused of letting the Jabberwocky loose.  Maddie will not only be expelled from Ever After High, she will be sent to Neverland.  Raven's mother is imprisoned inside a mirror but Raven finds a way to contact her in order to find a spell that can help Raven and Apple save Maddie.  Raven's mother sends the two friends off on a scavenger hunt, filled with riddles and danger.  As the girls work on solving the riddles and obtaining all the necessary items for the spell, they find strengths they did not realize they had.  Most importantly they learn that together than can accomplish more than they could individually.

I highly recommend this series of books.  Shannon Hale continues to be one of my favorite authors.

After reading these books take some time and read some of the classic Grimm tales.  Think of some ways you might change the stories so that everyone can have a happily ever after!

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna