In 2015 Betsy Schow gave us Spelled and with it the Fairy Tale characters Rexi (the feisty, sarcastic and narcissistic daughter of Robin Hood), Dorothea, and Kato, all battling the Wicked Witch in the Land of Oz. I adored this book (see my review here), so I was elated to get my hands on Wanted, the next installment in Schow’s Storymakers series.

At the end of Spelled Dorothea is cursed, and evil is running amok. Now we discover still more menace has been unleashed. Rexi struggles to defend Sherwood Forest, but she’s losing her memory. And as if that weren’t enough, Kato is falling in love with Rexi, even though he’s already Dorothea’s boyfriend. This madness must stop! Rexi sacrifices herself knowing Dorothea will never let her friend’s story end. Will Rexi finally move up from being a sidekick and write her own destiny?

As with the last book, I thoroughly enjoyed the advice columns, recipes, and snippets of humor from other Fairy Tales at the beginning of each chapter. In Wanted, Schow has changed her narrator from Dorothea to Rexi. Can we look forward to a third installment told from Kato’s point of view? I hope so. (Fingers crossed that I am correct, but I merely review, I don’t have any say in this.) Rexi is a quick witted narrator, and when she finds herself singing a song about ‘letting it go,’ I laughed. Of course we have our protagonist singing ‘Let it Go!’ Way to go Schow on incorporating modern day lingo into her fairy tale story.

In the classroom:

Twisted (or Fractured) Fairy Tales are a great concept to teach in seventh & eighth grade English classrooms in preparation for spring testing. One of the main tasks required by state testing is the ability to draft an essay. Use this as a fun essay for students to draft and edit.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

Wanted by Betsy Schow (Sourcebooks Fire | 9781492635994 | February 7, 2017)