Bibliography
Kontis, Alethea. Enchanted. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2012. Print.
Nilsen, Allen Pace, James
Blasingame, Kenneth L. Donelson, and Don L. Nilsen. Literature
for Today's Young Adults. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
Summary
Sunday is one of
the Woodcutter Sisters named for each day of the week. Each sibling has a
magical power and what Sunday writes comes true. While writing one day, Sunday
meets and becomes friends with an enchanted frog. Their feelings for each other
become close enough that Sunday kisses the frog which transforms him back into
a man. Unfortunately, this young man is part of a family that has been at odds
with her family for a long time. Will she learn to love the man who was her
dear friend?
Analysis
“Magic and
monsters, all before breakfast. Sunday wouldn’t have it any other way” (Kontis
187).
Enchanted is a fun read full of satire and sarcasm.
There
are surprises sprinkled throughout as a family story slowly turns out to be a
familiar fairy tale such as Jack and the Beanstalk
or The Golden Goose.
Like many other YA novels, Enchanted
is blurred between genres. It mostly falls in the fairy tale category, but
could also fall under humor, romance, or even adventure. It is not told in the
first person. However, it does have traditional YA traits such as doubt about his
and her strength, personal growth throughout the story, a mean mother and
loving father. This book also features a traditional fairy tale happy ending.
The writing is verbose. This novel could have been told in about
half of the words. Although, the story may be a bit meandering, it may be to layer
in the other fairy tales and magic.
Overall, I would
recommend this book to a female YA reader because it has a clever combination
of familiar fairy tales, romance, and light humor. It would be an ideal read
for the summer or over a weekend.
