The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman

Elizabeth was just getting accustomed to her new school where she had no friends when one of her teachers offers her a job as a page in a repository that lends out objects like a library lends out books. Hidden in the basement of the repository is the Grimm Collection, where the objects in question are the magical ones from fairy tales like seven league boots, Snow White's stepmother's mirror, and a mermaid comb that makes your hair look awesome. Some of these precious magical items have been disappearing from the Grimm Collection, and when Elizabeth and her fellow pages get mixed up in the danger, it's up to them to find the items and return them safely to the repository.

I absolutely adored this book. It was a completely refreshing take on the fairy tales of old but had a plot that was completely its own and not a retelling of one we know well. Don't get me wrong, I have a very soft spot for fairy-tale retellings, but the originality in this novel was off the charts. The references to various fairy tales and mythologies were incredibly diverse and incorporated into the story very well, and the fantasy and reality parts of the novel meshed comfortably, if you know what I mean. If you don't then think about it and get back to me.

The situations that Shulman put her characters into were utterly hysterical. At some point while reading I looked up and said out loud what was going on and realized exactly how crazy I sounded, but that only made me love it more. The whole idea that this book is based on is so different and unique that the characters never end up in cliche predictable situations. One more thing that I enjoyed was how Elizabeth was no one special. It sounds weird to say that, but having an ordinary girl as the main character was truly refreshing in a world where every teen novel has a hero/heroine who is special because of who or what they are. Elizabeth is a normal girl who finds herself in extraordinary situations and manages to keep her head on straight, and I commend her for that.

5 stars

Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library - a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That's where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales; seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White's stepmother's sinister mirror that talks in riddles.

When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime or captured by the thief.

Polly Shulman has created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise, starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.