Into the Wild

Durst, Sarah Beth. 2007. Into the Wild. 272 pages.

Growing up, I always thought what was living under my bed was pretty scary. But that was nothing compared to what Julie Marchen had to deal with under hers. On the surface, Julie might appear to be your average middle schooler. Teased by some of her more popular peers, she feels she doesn't belong anywhere. Not at school. And not at home. Let's just say that her homelife...isn't quite the norm. Her mom? You might have heard of her. Rapunzel. Though she goes by Zel now. She owns a salon. And her brother? Well, she can't really call him her brother in public. He's a cat. Puss in Boots to be exact. And her father? Well. She's never met her father, so she doesn't know anything about him other than what's written in the story books. A nameless prince. Her grandmother? Practically the worst witch in the world. Only, I suppose, she's reformed now that she's in the "real world." Yes, there are some days Julie wishes she was someone else. That her life story was not so weird. So completely out there. There are days she hates her life. Like when "Cindy" embarrasses her by picking her up from school. Try explaining that away. Yet there are worse things to fear than embarrassment, as Julie learns...

Practically every day of her life, Julie is used to hearing her mom ask her the same old questions. Did you lock your bedroom door? Is the Wild still under your bed? But Julie never thought, and perhaps her mother didn't, that there were other ways for The Wild to escape its captivity.

It all comes down to a wishing well and some wishes. That, and an evil librarian named Linda.