A+ Author: Cameron Dokey

I am so grateful for friends with good taste!  In the past few months I've been stuck in bed a lot, and a kind friend brought me by some books she thought I'd enjoy.  Three of them were books by Cameron Dokey in her "Once Upon a Time" series.  I was skeptical at first, I admit it.  It can be easy to come across a lot of sappy, cheesy, same-old/same-old stories when it comes to the classic fairy tales.  There are countless retellings of each one, but most are shallow at best and a waste of time at worst.  I was so pleasantly surprised!

Cameron Dokey does a fantastic job re-imagining these classic tales and breathing new life into them.  I happily rediscovered old favorites (Cinderella, Rapunzel, etc.) from creatively new angles, and then fell in love with stories I don't usually pick up (The Ballad of Mulan, Jack & The Beanstalk, Arabian Nights).  Each story was taken apart and then put back together in a totally new form, yet there were no gaping holes and I still finished with the feeling I longed for.  (And usually an insatiable desire to start a new one pronto!)

After practically inhaling the first three books (I think I read them all in just a few days), I asked for more, then discovered even more at my local library.  I came home with eight new titles in my arms and couldn't wait to go to bed early to start in on them.

I will say, I was slightly disappointed with one story, and that was the retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  Cameron Dokey's Belle was quite similar to Robin McKinley's Beauty, only I read McKinley's telling first and the story was told in greater depths.  Other than that, Cameron still had her unique voice and sequence of events for her story, and there was a much-appreciated theme on the nature of true Beauty (with a capital B).

 I didn't expect to love this one, but it became a favorite!

I loved getting to know Jack and his sister in this one.  There was sooo much more to this story than you usually find!

Cameron has an amazing ability to give each story a unique voice.  I was spellbound by this one.

Think Rapunzel is an abused girl alone with her long hair?  Think again.  This was like reading "The True Story of Rapunzel".

I loved that pumpkins still played a part in this tale, and even were the vehicle for bringing her to the castle.  The rest, however, was completely redone.  Brilliant job letting the story play out without making the stepmother and stepsisters complete villains.

If you've been looking for a new author to love, or a long string of stories to sink your teeth into, I'd suggest checking out a tall stack of these.  I'm a lifelong Cameron Dokey fan for sure!

*I will just point out that there are a couple other authors that contribute to this series, so just look for that when checking out the books.  I have tried some of them, but I feel like they don't do quite as good a job with the stories as Cameron.  

The Marvels

I am a big Brian Selznick fan, and have been ever since I was intrigued by the gigantic size of Hugo Cabret and the pencil drawing of a boy's face staring at me from it's fat spine.  I loved discovering a story through words and pictures in a whole new way.  The pictures didn't just accompany the words of the story, they actually took the place of the words for large chunks of the book.

I was equally enthralled with his next book Wonderstruck, which Brian surprised me with before I even knew it was in print.  (Definitely a good surprise.)  I loved seeing another face looking out at me from the spine, and was struck again by Selznick's amazing ability to craft and communicate a truly original story.  He's amazing!  It's incredibly rare to find someone who is equally gifted with both a writing pencil and a drawing pencil, and he's brought his talents together in a fascinating way.

So it was with tingling anticipation that I swiped The Marvels from the library shelf last Thursday and brought it home with me. Setting that fat spine on my nightstand was like collecting a new but somewhat familiar friend.  I loved the gorgeous cover, the shimmering gold-leafed pages, and the expectation of a fantastic tale.  I finished the book in one sitting this afternoon (not as hard to do when half the book is illustrated), but came away with mixed feelings.

There were a couple of things different about this book by Brian Selznick.  The first thing I noticed was that instead of having chunks of illustrations shuffled with chapters, this book had a mass of illustrations at the beginning, followed by a mass of text, then concluded with a few more pictures.

The other thing that felt different about this book was that the illustrations at the beginning launched me into a multi-generational saga, hooked me into the characters, and left me wanting more.  The written portion tied in the original story, but took me in a completely new direction.  I was so invested in the original story and longed so much for more on that line and a conclusion to the tale, that the turn took me a while to get into.  Part of me was disappointed that the original story turned out to be second string to the written text, and although Selznick clued us into the reason behind the missing conclusion, I still ended the book feeling like something was missing.

I wasn't prepared for the heavy hints towards AIDS and gay living found in the narrative, but on the other hand I was intrigued and delighted to read about the true stories and details that led Selznick to craft this story.  I find myself tonight wanting to pull out Wonderstruck and reread a Selznick novel I truly love.  I'll probably recommend his first two novels more than this one.  Or maybe I'll just relive the illustrated portion over a couple more times before I turn it back in...

Not sure what my conclusion is on this book.  I'm probably a little too close to it to judge my reaction clearly, but I know I'm more likely to pick up Hugo or Wonderstruck next time I want a good Selznick in my day.