Good read if you're going to read -- or have read -- any of the Wicked series by Gregory Maguire, and the paperback I got has the original illustrations, which are delightful. ( )

"The Marvelous Land of Oz" is the second book that L. Frank Baum wrote about the delightful land of Oz. It came out four years after the first one because, well, he originally had no intention of writing any more! He received many letters asking for more books though, and he finally gave in and kept writing them.

In "The Marvelous Land of Oz" we meet some new characters and rejoin some of our old friends. Tip, a young boy, is the main character of this book. He's grown up with a mean old sorceress, but after the accidental creation of Jack Pumpkinhead, he runs away. Tip and Jack get into many adventures on their way to the Emerald City, where the Scarecrow now rules. Unfortunately they arrive right as a bunch of girls, lead by General Jinjur, decide to take over the city!

Tip and Jack ended up joining forces with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man to win back the Emerald City. Along the way a flying Gump is created, we visit with Glenda the Good Witch, and the long lost Ozma is finally found! I had a lot of fun joining this motley crew on their journey and I'm sure you will too. ( )

I found this really interesting. It has to have spawned a ton of feminist academic lit, because it it the armies are made up of girls and a boy turns into a girl. A ragtag army of girls marches on the Emerald City, wielding knitting needles, because they want to raid the treasury for jewels and avoid housework. Glinda the Good Witch and her real female army go in and kick ass because the male heroes have no luck. And Tip, the boy protagonist of the book, is really the Princess Ozma. There's enough to keep scholars interested in gender identity and feminism in children's lit busy for quite a while. I'll have to look and see what I can find. It's be cool to read some of the analyses. ( )

Dude, the Scarecrow is kind of a pompous jerk. Every time I've read this book, I've been glad that he decides to hang out with Nick Chopper more. Know-it-alls, am I right?Saw-horse rocks my world, though. ( )

Continuing on into unchartered Oz territory (I plan to read the first five Oz sequels at least), we find the second book of the series apparently inspired by letters written by children to Baum. It certainly seems that he mailed it in. Reputedly the further adventures of Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsmen, these heroes are basically ridiculed as comic relief. Then you have a cast of equally dumb characters who are various forms of inanimate objects brought too life (too much of a good thing Frank…). Finally, you have Tip, the boy who’s really a girl, huh? I won’t even go into how blatantly sexist the characterization of the Army of Revolt is. Still in the hands of a good director / screenwriter, this could be adapted to make a fun movie. The later Baum books are said to be more on par with the original, so I’ll read on, but I’ll definitely be picking my favorites. ( )