Rapunzel's Revenge

Hale, Shannon and Dean. 2008. Rapunzel's Revenge. Illustrated by Nathan Hale.

Rapunzel's Revenge is a graphic novel. A great graphic novel of an empowered and spunky Rapunzel who's on a quest for revenge. Really there are no words for how much fun this one is. It does begin in a familiar way, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little girl..." and it is loosely based on the fairy tale...but most of the story is original and fun and wonderful. The book really begins to take off when Rapunzel rescues herself from the tower. One of the first things she does is meet her "adventuring hero" who would have rescued her...not. Here's how that exchange goes:

Rapunzel: Ow! What in the--
Would-be-hero: Are you all right?
Rapunzel: Oh...am I...am I all right? Well I was until someone shot my new pet pig. I was going to call him Roger.
Would-be-hero: You're welcome! All in a day's work. I'm an adventuring hero.
Rapunzel: Well, It's nice to meet you. It's nice to meet anyone, really. Can you give me directions to--
Would-be-hero: I was getting so bored watching the workers farm my fields all day. So I left behind the civilized comforts of Husker City, following tales of a beautiful maiden trapped in a high tower.
Rapunzel: Oh! That's so noble of you to come all this way to help her.
Would-be-hero: Yes, noble is a good word for me. I can't actually rescue her, of course. The word is she's Mother Gothel's pet and I won't risk crossing the old lady. But I can tell her I'm going to rescue her. She's bound to be too naive to know the difference, and it'll be such fun in the meantime!
Rapunzel: Oh.
Would be hero: So, tiny ragamuffin, as payment for saving you from that rampaging beast, you may point the way to her mystical tower.
Rapunzel: Uh, yeah, the tower is a huge tree just back that way, but...but she's slightly deaf. If you keep calling out, she'll hear you. Eventually.
Would-be-hero: Excellent! And I'm off.
Rapunzel: Remember to yell as loud as you can!
Narrator: This is where the "once upon a time" part ends, with yours truly finally free from that perpendicular prison.

But Rapunzel's story is far from over. And her adventures have just begun. I loved the story. I loved the style. I loved the illustrations.

I loved this one!!!

Other reviews: Fuse #8, Bookwyrm Chrysalis, BookMoot, Melissa at Estella's Revenge, and others I'm sure...

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews