Thursday, May 14, 2020

"Cursed"

Jen Calonita is the author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and other books like Sleepaway Girls and I'm with the Band. Fairy Tale Reform School and Royal Academy Rebels are her first two middle-grade series.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new book, Cursed, and reported the following:
I've failed my test.

I hate failing tests!

But here I am, failing this one because while Page 69 of Cursed gives away an important kernel of information about the final book in the Fairy Tale Reform School series, it does not tell the whole plot. If a reader turned to page 69, they'd find a chapter titled "Pearls of Wisdom," and this information written by our former thief heroine, Gilly:
My grandmother seems to want to talk to anyone but me. She even made me leave the magic mirror that links us to FTRS on her porch. ("I won't have people eavesdropping on me!")
An interesting line indeed! Gilly has a grandma who hates snoops! And here's why: Gilly's grandma is a reclusive fairy that Gilly, Jax, Jocelyn, Maxine, Ollie, Kayla, Allison Grace and the crew must hunt down because she may have information about Rumplestiltskin and Alva (aka the wicked fairy from Sleeping Beauty) that could help them stop a curse that would rewind time in Enchantasia and make villains the leaders. Did I mention that Gilly's impressionable younger sister Anna is with Rumplestiltskin at this moment and seems to be evil? Or that the kids are still being forced to do homework while on the run from dangerous gargoyles?

Cursed is my wrap up to this series that I adore and there was so much I wanted to pack into pages like page 69 giving the reader glimpse of the future beyond the book while staying true to characters that I've grown to love and admire over the past few years. I hope this glimpse at page 69 has you wanting to read more. Happy reading!
Visit Jen Calonita's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Jen Calonita and Captain Jack Sparrow.

--Marshal Zeringue