Cinderella stays late

They may feature preening Disneyesque characters on the covers, but the tales within the new Grimmtastic Girls series have plenty of momentum as well as appealing heroines. In the Mean Girls meets Brothers Grimm opener, Cinda spends an action-packed first week at Grimm Academy, which the Grimm brothers established in part to safeguard books and other enchanted artifacts they have collected. Not surprisingly, Cinda's stepsisters, who have been going there for years, give Cinda a hard time. However, she soon finds good friends in Red, Snow, and Rapunzel, as well as a worthy romantic interest in Prince Awesome. Although the authors overuse exclamation marks and neologisms (such as grimmiserable and mapestry), they also effectively create a beginners' Hogwarts, in which readers figure out, along with Cinda, how the magical school operates and who to trust. The setup is a little strained (why wouldn't suspicious characters like Cinda's stepsisters be better monitored?), but the execution is highly diverting. Also available is Red Riding Hood Gets Lost (2014), wherein Red helps her pals understand an evil plot brewing at Grimm Academy.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2014 Booklist

Gr 3-5-The authors of the "Goddess Girls" series (S. & S.) take on the leading ladies made famous by the Brothers Grimm. The books feature a diverse cast and give the fairy tales modern makeovers. In Cinderella, new girl Cinda teams up with her friends Red, Snow, and Rapunzel to save Prince Awesome's ball from her stepsisters' treachery. In Red Riding Hood, the title character battles stage fright while trying out for the school play but might have to put her acting skills to work when she confronts the possibly villainous Wolfgang in the Neverwood forest. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.