July 9, 2012
Loftin debuts with a smart, fresh, and thoroughly modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Nothing is going right for 11-year-old Lorelei Robinson. Her mother’s death has torn her family apart, her father has married a woman who doesn’t like kids, and her school just burned down. Good thing a shiny new school popped up over the weekend, and it’s awesome: there are all-you-can-eat meals, endless bowls of candy on the desks, a playground to die for—and students only attend classes when they want. Lorelei’s new friend Andrew is sure there’s something suspicious about the way the students can’t stop eating (his own weight issues have taught him food awareness), and Lorelei soon comes to agree. The darkness that Loftin layers over her story makes this a mesmerizing read, though some grisly details may be too much for sensitive readers. By incorporating real problems that children face—the death of a parent, peer pressure, bullying, obesity, and learning disabilities—Loftin anchors her characters and creates a fantasy that feels simultaneously classic and new. Ages 8–12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary and Media.
July 15, 2012
A pinch of Grimm, a dash of Greek mythology and a heaping helping of fresh chills make for an irresistible contemporary fairy tale centering around a food enchantment. A sparkling new school pops up in Lorelei's neighborhood, and events conspire to make her and her brother enroll. Not that they resist--Splendid Academy has the most phenomenal playground they've ever seen, and Principal Trapp lets the kids run in the halls. As icing on the cake, food's provided constantly, especially desserts. Everyone's desk contains a magically refilling candy bowl, and the lunches and (oddly non-optional) breakfasts are succulent feasts. Rules barely exist; teachers balk only when a student doesn't eat enough. Even at home, Lorelei awakens with "a sick, twisting hunger that felt like teeth chewing at my insides." Readers familiar with "Hansel and Gretel" will smell the reason why these teachers push food. Lorelei is smart, but two obstacles block her: knowledge that "there [i]sn't an adult in the world who would believe" the preposterous truth at the school's core, and emotional baggage from her mother's death a year ago. In clear, accessible prose with a sense of immediacy, Loftin smoothly melds Lorelei's conviction that she's "done something unforgivably evil" with the deadly danger hovering at school. Refreshingly, Lorelei's learning disability (dysgraphia) is simply a fact of life, not a literary symbol. Deliciously scary and satisfying. (Fantasy. 8-12)
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July 1, 2013
Lorelei has an awful new stepmother and her school burns down, but she's thrilled to start at brand-new Splendid Academy, where the children enjoy a multitude of luxuries as long as they eat constantly. Soon, though, Lorelei realizes that there are other plans for the students. This creepy modern Hansel and Gretel story succeeds thanks to a well-paced plot and fluid writing.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)