Would you send a villain to do a hero’s job?
Gilly wouldn’t call herself wicked, exactly…but when you have five little brothers and sisters and live in a run-down boot, you have to get creative to make ends meet. Gilly’s a pretty good thief (if she does say so herself).
Until she gets caught.
Gilly’s sentenced to three months at Fairy Tale Reform School where all of the teachers are former … the teachers are former (super-scary) villains like the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella’s Wicked Stepmother. Harsh. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there’s more to this school than its heroic mission. There’s a battle brewing and Gilly has to wonder: can a villain really change?
Flunked is an exciting new twisted fairy tale from the award-winning author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series. “Charming fairy-tale fun.” -Sarah Mlynowski, author of the New York Times bestselling Whatever After series.
“Fairy Tale Reform School is spellbinding and wickedly clever. Gilly is smart, spunky, and a hilarious narrator, and I cannot wait to read about her next adventure!” -Leslie Margolis, author of the Annabelle Unleashed novels and the Maggie Brooklyn mysteries
“Fairy Tale Reform School is a fresh and funny take on the enchanted world. (And who hasn’t always wanted to know what happened to Cinderella’s stepmother?)” -Julia DeVillers, author of the Trading Faces identical twin series and Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker
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Gilly is sent to reform school, run by Cinderella’s “reformed” step mother, after being caught stealing. She is only stealing because her family is starving, as are many other’s in the land. Unfortunately the Princesses and rest of the Royals don’t seem to know or care, causing great animosity toward them. When Gilly attends reform school she finds out there is more going on in their little Kingdom than she knew.
Really cute! It was a fun witty story with a different spin on some of our favorite fairy tales.
Omg!!!! Jen Colonita is an awesome author. I can’t wait to read more of her books. Jen Calonita
Loved this tale that mirrors the notion of the Disney series “Descendants.” Cinderella’s step-mother is now the principal at the school, which is charged with reforming delinquents. All the professors are reformed delinquents as well. The book was so engaging that I have read the second book and am ready to begin the third! It’s a nice middle school chapter book series!
This is the greatest book I have ever read
Fairy tales are full of colorful characters, both evil and innocent. But sometimes the line between evil and innocence is a little blurry, as you will see in this book!
Author missed the mark in crafting a believable enough main character. She is identified as 12, but acts like a pouty 17. Couldn’t get past that.
This is a fun read packed with a little bit of snarkiness, a good dose of mischief, danger, secret agendas, attitude, magic, quirkiness and tons of references to popular fairy tales along the way. In other words, it a book with punch.
The main heroine, Gilly, is one of many siblings living in the shoe maker’s shoe. Since Cinderella let the Fairy Godmother simply magic up all future glass slippers instead of ordering them from the shoe maker, Gilly’s family is poor and barely making it by. Gilly loves her family and helps them the only way she can: she steals from the rich to buy food for her brothers and sisters. Gilly gets caught and ends up in reform school, where Cinderella’s step-mother, in attempts to redeem herself, teaches potentially ‘gone astray’ kids how to become heroes and heroines.
Gilly is quite the character. She’s a thief, she’s got attitude and she has a mouth. She isn’t evil—her heart is in the right place—but she’s everything but sweet. But then, nobody at reform school is extremely lovable. These flawed characters are exactly what tweens will love. This borders right along the line between childish fun and teenage drama, causing an exciting and quirky mix. Plus, there’s action. Tons of it.
With many of the ‘evil’ characters from fairy tales running this school, it’s hard to know which ones are honestly trying to reform and which ones are acting. It makes it impossible to guess who the real bad guy is or where the danger is coming from, when the plot starts to thicken. Even Gilly’s friends crowd the gray-zone, all bordering on becoming villains themselves.
Fans of fairy tales and magic battles will love this one, especially those ages 10 to 14. It’s light on the emotional end, keeping focus on the fast paced plot, and holds many problems this age group will understand and identify with.
This book offers an interesting take on what happens to the people after Cinderella, Snow White and the other princesses begin to rule. The evil stepmother is now running a reform school with other former baddies as teacher. Gillian’s shoemaker father is losing business now that Cinderella’s fairy godmother has stolen his glass slipper design. And Gilly has to steal to make sure her family has enough to eat. When she’s caught (again) and sent to reform school, she’s in for an eye-opener. Not everyone is as they seem.
Fun read. Good story of doing what is right to fight evil.
Loved it, brought back a lot fairy tale characters.