Module 13 - Repunzel's Revenge

  Courtesy of dallaslibrary2.org

Book Summary:
Repunzel's Revenge starts out about a young girl who lives inside a villa surrounded by a huge wall with her mother.  Being curious she wants to discover what is on the outside of the wall.  Her mother refuses to let her, but she finds a way out.  She discovers how horrible things are on the outside.  She also discovers that the woman she thought was her mother, Gothel, isn't and had taken her from her real mother.  She becomes angry and Gothel locks her in a prison.  Repunzel escapes and with the help of a new friend, determines to make it back to Gothel's villa and rescue her mom and get revenge on Gothel.  They meet many different characters on the way to Repunzel's revenge.
APA Reference:

 Hale, D., & Hale, S. (2008). Repunzel's revenge. New York, NY: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Chilren's Books.

My Impressions:

This book was a cute read.  It definately gives a new twist to the story of Repunzel and her long hair.  The
illustrations go a long way to helping tell the story.  Throughout the story she grows and matures letting the
reader get to know Repunzel.  There is even a moral to the story that one should always do whats right even
if it isn't the easiest solution.  I would recommend this book to high school students as a good read.
Professional Review:

Rapunzel is a wild and fearless child who roams her mother's castle (Mother Gothel's western villa) at will but knows nothing about the outside world. As she enters adolescence, however, her curiosity overwhelms her, and she climbs the castle walls to discover a world of poverty and oppression, the result of her mother's cruel magical powers over the world known as Gothel's Ranch. Rapunzel also discovers that she was stolen as a child and has lived a life of luxury, while her real mother toiled in slavery in the Devil's Armpit Mines. Rapunzel reacts in rage to this horrible injustice and soon finds herself imprisoned in the hollow of a tall tree, where she will remain until she swears allegiance to her adoptive mother and accepts her position as heir to the evil empire. The years go by, and Rapunzel's hair grows and grows.

Rapunzel is a strong-willed teenager, however, and on her 16th birthday, after refusing Mother Gothel's conditions one last time, Rapunzel escapes, using her long tresses as a rappelling rope. From this point on, the story takes a 180-degree turn from the version told by the Brothers Grimm; Rapunzel takes charge of her own life and isn't easily bested by any manipulative men, witches, or other evildoers. In her first exploit, she meets a princely "adventuring hero" on his way to "pretend" to rescue her, because "she's bound to be too naïve to know the difference, and it'll be such fun in the meantime" (pp. 40-41). Now, wise to the ways of the world, Rapunzel plays a practical joke on him that sends him off on a wild goose chase into the forest, and from that point on, she is the mistress of her own destiny.

Shannon Hale has made a career of taking classic stories and turning them into enjoyable, feature-length masterpieces, and with the help of her husband Dean and their new friend and illustrator, Nate Hale, she takes Rapunzel to delightful places, more reminiscent of the Old West and Middle Earth than the Brothers Grimm's archetypal forest. Along the way, Rapunzel encounters characters from other stories, including Jack, that famous giant killer, whose traveling companion, Goldie, resembles a large Canada goose and is alleged to lay golden eggs. All the usual suspects from the classic Western movies are here, too (albeit in parody), including Heck Burnbottom's outlaw gang, the besieged town folks of P ig Tree Gulch, and a corrupt small town sheriff. Zorro had his whip, and Roy Rogers had his lasso, but Rapunzel has both, in the form of her long braided hair, which she uses with great aplomb to bring miscreants of all kinds to justice. She is more than a match for outlaw gangs, her mother's henchman, wild boars, enchanted coyotes, and attempts to cash in on her "Wanted: Dead or Alive" status.

Nate Hale's artwork is the perfect venue for this graphic novel. He captures body gesture, facial expression, and physical action ingeniously, all while maintaining a Southwestern, Old West feel through the landscapes and character appearances. One wonders how many John Ford Western movies he reviewed to get the genre down pat.

Professional Review Reference:
Blasingame, J. (2010). Rapunzel's revenge. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literature, 53(6), 517.

Library Uses:

This would be a good book to use with a low level reader who doesn't like to read.  The reading is easy, the
illustrations are eye-catching, and the story has a good twist to it.

Another use would be to use the cover for a bulletin board throughout the school for advertisement.  This
would show students that reading can be fun and not just educational.