Stars: 5 out of 5Pros: Imaginative, fun, fast paced, great character development
Cons: Weak ending
The Bottom Line:
Third entry is great
Ending is the only flaw
Small flaw overall
You'll Definitely Want to Meet the Problem Child
The great thing about fairy tales is that they can be used
and adapted to tell all kinds of stories.
And that's what makes The Sisters Grimm such a great series. It puts all those classic characters in
modern New York State
As the series opened, preteen Sabrina Grimm and her younger
sister Daphne were wards of the state after the disappearance of their
parents. That changed when they
discovered they had one relative they never knew about - a grandmother living
in the town of Ferryport Landing . It was there they learned they were the
descendents of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually historians, recording the
events of real life magical people. All
of the fairy tale characters now live in the town of Ferryport Landing , where it is the Grimm
family's responsibility to keep them from running amuck.
This book opens with good news and bad news. The good news is that Sabrina has found her
parents. The bad news is that they are
in an enchanted sleep and being held captive by Little Red Riding Hood and her
pet Jabberwocky.
Sabrina hardly has time to process this news when her uncle
Jake shows up in town. Sabrina and
Daphne have never heard of him before, but that's not as big a surprise as
finding out that the other residents of Ferryport Landing don't remember him
either. What secret might he and Granny
be hiding? Will that secret get back the
girls' parents?
As much as I have enjoyed the previous books in the series,
I have felt that the first half moved a little slowly. That certainly wasn't the case here. The story picks up with the cliffhanger from
the last book in the series. There is
enough information that if you haven't read either of the previous books, you
could jump in here. Frankly, I was glad
for a bit of a refresher since it had been a few months since I finish the
second book.
Anyway, the story never really slowed down. It introduced characters without slowing
things down at all. I was turning pages
as quickly as I could and only put it down reluctantly. There were several nice surprises and twists
before the climax. Honestly, the climax
was my only complaint about the book. It
felt like a cheat in many ways, like the author had written himself into a
corner and didn't quite know how else to end things.
I've also had problems with Sabrina in previous books. She's headstrong and more than a bit
rebellious. While that was still the
case here, I felt like she was softening quite a bit. She's still willing to go after what she
wants, but she isn't as reckless and actually does listen to others (usually
before doing what she wants anyway). I
could definitely see her character evolving even further during this book, and
hope the change continues in the next entry.
Since Sabrina is the main character, she gets the most
development, but the other characters are also well developed. Puck, a magical character, goes through a bit
of a change himself here that I found funny.
And speaking of funny, some of my favorite scenes involved Daphne. She's also been strong, but her new
self-defense was rather funny.
Since the book is aimed at late elementary school, I had no
problem reading it. I can't imagine
anyone in the target age group stumbling over it took much. There are a few pencil illustrations (about
11) in the book that are beautiful.
The Problem Child builds on the previous two books and
really steps up the story telling in the series. While you could jump in here, to fully
appreciate this book, I do recommend starting with the first in the series.
As the series progresses, it becomes more important to read the Sisters Grimm Series in order.
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