Do you believe in happily ever after? Where those Disney
fairy tales your ideal lifestyle?
Well, I hate to break it to you, but life isn’t perfect like
in Cinderella or Rapunzel.
In fact, the fairy tale version of Rapunzel is happening right
before your eyes. That girl standing at the bus stop, the girl quietly sitting
in class, the girl with no friends, she’s the real Rapunzel stuck up in her
tower anxiously awaiting rescuing. Except the thing is life isn’t a fairy tale
and she’s stuck in a state of depression. Perhaps she doesn’t get her happily
ever after and gets rescued like the original Rapunzel.
Throw in the body shaming, violence, broken promises, and
realistic heart-wrenching events crossed with fairy tale references pretty much
describes Christine Heppermann’s Poisoned
Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty.
There were a ton of themes typically found in fairy tales,
but with a hilarious, sarcastic, and often dark twist in Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty. Although there were
poems about eating disorders, societies standards of beauty and not being able
to fulfill it, and other modern problems there were also a steady amount of
poems that empowered women and the relationships they have with friends and
family. I felt that this collection of poetry was primarily aimed towards young
females, so I would recommend this as an outside read of my students who were into poetry or fairy tales. An older generation can find some connections to their current lives, however,
this collection would appeal more to high school or middle school female
students because of the themes.
I definitely liked the book and found myself relating to a
lot of the topics present in the book, but I also had some issues with the poetry.
I felt that some of the poems lacked depth. Some of them were really
superficial and there wasn’t an extra layer that could have made it more
complex. There was a photograph to accompany every poem, which added complexity
to some of the works. There were some pictures that didn’t make sense to the
overall theme of the poem and seemed forced.
If you’re looking for different views of fairy tales I would
just pick up Grimm’s Fairy Tales to
read the original dark tales, the books from Serena Valentino that takes the
villian’s perspective of the story, or other spinoffs like Once Upon A Time.
Pros:
-Quick read (128 pages).
-Relatable themes.
-Each poem has a corresponding photograph that sometimes adds
a layer of depth.
Cons:
-Only 50 poems.
-Some of the pictures didn’t have a real connection with the
poem.
-Aimed primarily for one audience (adolescent females).
-Lacked complexity.
Links:
Want to buy it? Get a used or new copy here:
Check out Christine’s website here:
Official book trailer:
Read the Grimm stories here for free with the Kindle App:
https://www.amazon.com/Grimms-Fairy-Tales-Complete-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B00CS6P31U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1492389362&sr=1-1&keywords=grimm
https://www.amazon.com/Grimms-Fairy-Tales-Complete-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B00CS6P31U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1492389362&sr=1-1&keywords=grimm
Awesome post! I love poetry and this book sounds awesome. I wonder if simple poems are better for YA readers. I think simple poems should be introduced to young readers first before going on to the harder works. Poetry is not easy to read and can be interpreted many different ways. Maybe this book could be a text that bridges the gap between easy and complex poetry. Also, the poetry topics seem really appropriate for YA readers.
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