Cinderella #308: Diary of a Fairy Godmother (Codell, E.R.)
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Even fairy godmothers have old friends
from junior high! |
Once upon a time, there was a young witch named Hunky Dory. She was bored in school and didn't know who to believe: her mom or her aunt. Her mom said that school was very important and worth the strugggle. Her aunt said that "if you're smart you can do without it and if you're dumb, it doesn't help anyway." Hunky and her friends, Frantic Search, Belladonna,Velvet, and Lemon, cause trouble, explore the forbidden skills of granting wishes, and flirt with the hunky troll from under the bridge, Rumplestiltskin. Their pesky little neighbor, Goldilocks, tags along whenever she can. Hunky thinks she has the worst manners of anyone she has ever known, but her mom says "to be patient; she's just a little kid, and it's not her fault her parents are so permissive." So Hunky has to put up with her. One day Auntie Malice invites Hunky along to the palace, for a christening. All of the witches are going to bestow gifts on the new Royal Infant, Aurora. And that is how Hunky comes to taste petit fours for the first time —and to witness a genuine fairy godmother at work. To be an FG is not an ok option for a young witch, and when Hunky begins to hide in a well granting wishes, a real witches brew erupts! Among the list of good wishes to grant, Hunky lists, "Babies, friends, health, peace..." But when her friends discover that she is the wish granter, they make her barter with them. Velvet demands that she trade "a wish for a curse", and there are unintended consequences. Rushing to save a baby in danger, Hunky is out alone late one night. And that is when she hears somebody crying. Investigating, she finds a woebegone girl crying her eyes out by the fireplace. When she offers to help, the girl turns out to be quite the greedy-guts. First she demands a dress, then a carriage, and harangues Hunky for forgetting the shoes. To find out whether or not Cinderella gets to meet her man, and whether Hunky Dory EVER gets admitted to the Fairy Godmother's Guild, read: Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esmé Raji Codell (2005) New York: Hyperion
Notes: This book is cute and quirky,with plenty that girls ages 10-14 will love. I remember this author from her first book, Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year. As a teacher myself, I really sympathized with her. And yet, the signs that she might not be a long term teacher were there in the book. This is too bad; she was clearly such a good one. So telling of our schools that some of the coolest people who become teachers get out of the profession. Fast.
