The story: A governess goes to teach a young student, and finds there's a mystery in her employers' enormous home. Sound like your typical old-fasioned tale? This one has a twist, though--the governess is Ursula, a young bear fresh out of school, and her employers are the Three Bears. The mystery involves a little girl with golden curls who's looking for something that's Just Right...but this is NOT your standard Goldilocks story!
June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult PG; GLBT content G; adult themes (intolerance) PG; overall rating PG (as much for difficult vocabulary as anything; even good middle school readers will find some of the word choices daunting).
Liz's comments: While I actually really liked this story, I think it will appeal to only a select few MS readers: it's a reboot of the classic Goldilocks tale, true, but that doesn't make it for elementary-level readers. It's told in a very Jane Austen-like manner, with the same rather stuffy style. For me, I found the juxtaposition of an Austen-era heroine's sensibilities on a BEAR very off-putting--especially her religious experiences and singing of hymns, which in a way suggested that these are in the same category of fantasy as all the rest of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment