Cinderellis and the Glass Hill

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more. “When he was six years old, Ellis invented flying powder. He sprinkled the powder on his tin cup, and the cup began to rise up the chimney. He stuck his head into the fireplace to see how far up it would go. (The fire was out, of course.)” – Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Gail Carson Levine Just by the first page, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained. In Cinderellis and the Glass Hill, a retelling of a Norwegian fairy-tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr, the youngest of three brothers obtains a series of magical horses. He has a special gift for making special powders to help the farm, but the brother’s don’t bother giving him any attention. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, after all. This story also weaves in the classic Italian fairy tale called Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper. I say this because of the name she gives the main guy character, two siblings that are rude and mean to the other, and a contest that takes three days that ends in marriage. Now we have two stories in one book? It’s our lucky day folks. Cinderellis and Marigold have two things in common: their family doesn't pay much attention to them, and their best friends are animals (horses and a cat). They are terribly lonely and only want their family to love them and spend time with them. But, alas, that isn't how things happen for them. Marigold’s father goes on crazy quest to find crazy things and ends up with even crazier findings. He comes up with an idea to find the perfect husband for his lovely daughter. In order to marry her, a suitor must have armor, a horse, be courageous, brave and be able to ride a horse very well. Climbing up a very slippery, shiny glass hill is the logical solution! Will Marigold end up marrying a scary man? Will Cinderellis win the affections of his brothers? Will Cinderellis’ crops stop disappearing? Will Marigold’s father find something actually useful on his quest? Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.