Joan Holub

I love this series. Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are amazing at fracturing myths and legends. This is no exception to that. The Goddess Girls series are lighthearted, quirky reads featuring Greek myths and legends. Using the framework of the myths we know and love, Holub and Williams, twist these into tween friendly novels emphasising friendship and family.

In this one, Athena finds out she is the daughter of Zeus and has been invited to attend Mount Olympus Academy - the school where her show more dad is a principal. Athena leaves behind her mortal foster family and ascends to Mount Olympus where she meets other Goddess girls and boys and learns about her heritage and finds where she belongs. I was amused by the creative elements the authors came up with like the new classes Athena takes (Beauty-ology, Beast-ology, Hero-ology, Spell-ology and Revenge-ology), the history of the mortal inventions (the rake, the ship and the olive) and the reason behind the Trojan Wars (it was a class assignment!). I liked Athena. She was thrown in the deep end of a new family, new friends and a new school but she works hard to keep on top of her schoolwork and to put herself out there and make the best of an unusual situation. It's definitely aimed at middle grade but there's enough there to amuse older readers if not taken too seriously.

My own personal rating would be 3 stars. But for the target audience 4.5 show less

{My Thoughts} – Rapunzel has to be one one of my favorite fairytale characters. I like how the authors have changed her appearance so that she isn’t what one would consider normal. In this series she is a Goth girl, her hair is black with blue streaks and she dresses all things Goth while sleeping in the dungeon of the Academy. Her favorite color seems to be black and she loves cats! She is like a picture perfect version of what one might think a fairytale character should be right? Not show more really, but I love this depiction of her so much more then the many others I have read in the past.

Onto the book, Rapunzel, Snow, Cinder and Red all have been working out where the mapestry they had found in book one is suppose to take them, where they are suppose to find the treasure and how they are suppose to save the Academy. I cannot help but love each of the main characters in these books, but Rapunzel I can relate to the most, because I have the Goth personality I suppose or I use to, not so much anymore. Although, I am a massive animal lover which she appears to be as well.

In this book the big weekend comes for the festival. The festival was a plan the girls had come up with and pitched to Principal R as a means to try and save the Academy. The Academy seems to be in a mass amount of debt, but also it is threatened by the E.V.I.L. society. The girls believe that their goal is to take over all of Grimmlandia and they have yet, to discover a way to prevent such a disaster from happening. Can they stop that from happening? I don’t know, I mean I do, but I won’t tell you, you must read the book to find out.

Also, you get to learn more about Rapunzel, her secrets and what kind of character she really is, within Grimmlandia. I am certain you will fall even more in love with her once you learn more about her! I know I did!

I am almost certain that anyone that enjoys reading about fairytales, retellings and just plain a good relaxed story that they will be able to enjoy this book series. I cannot wait until I am able to read book 5! I am truly intrigued by this series! show less

I love this series. Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are amazing at fracturing myths and legends. This is no exception to that. The Grimmtastic Girls series takes on fairytale characters, writing lighthearted mysteries about the current nefarious plans the E.V.I.L. society is up to. Using the framework of the myths we know and love, Holub and Williams, twist these into tween friendly novels emphasising friendship and family.

Cinderella Stays Late introduces the fairytale gang attending Grimm show more Academy. Cinda is the new girl at school. She's nervous about starting at the Academy and unfortunately her stepsisters do their best to mislead her with what the school is like, how she should act and what the classes actually consist of. Thankfully, she quickly meets some great new friends, Red, Snow and Rapunzel - even if the Balls class she's taking isn't the sports class she wanted but is actually dancing. Cute little story. I liked the characters, plot was a bit thin. Amusing enough. Target audience would be 3.5 stars. Own rating, 3. show less

A yellow no. 2 pencil instructs her students on how to write a story:

Story Path
1. Idea, characters, setting
2. Trouble
3. Even bigger trouble
4. Fix the trouble

Little Red sets off to write her story, asking herself, "What would a brave pencil do?" Her teacher gives her a basket of words to use on her journey, and she eventually faces the villain in principal's clothing - the Wolf 3000 pencil sharpener!

At once a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and a template for how to write a story, this show more gets an A+. show less