Land of Stories Book Review

Title: Land of Stories By: Chris Colfer
Genre: Juv. Fiction, Fairy Tales
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Summary: (from amazon) When Alex and Conner's father unexpectedly dies, the twins lose the person who always had the perfect story to cheer them up. Then, on their 12th birthday, their grandmother gives them the book of fairy tales he used to read to them. Suddenly it seems to come to life, and the youngsters find themselves falling into the Land of Stories, seemingly with no way to get out. Desperate, they follow instructions in a mysterious journal: if they gather eight items from various residents in the kingdoms of the Land of Stories, they can complete the Wishing Spell and have one wish granted. After scaling castle walls, diving deep into the home of mermaids, and meeting characters from all of the beloved fairy tales, they are stymied by the Evil Queen, who has escaped from Snow White's dungeon. With the hope of using the spell gone, the twins appear to have no way home until they meet Fairy Godmother, their own grandmother. In a way, they find comfort from their grief over their father's death when they realize that they have been following his journal and that he grew up in this land.

Children especially those who have feelings of inadequacy or who have suffered early tragedy, will find lots of hope within its pages along with bravery and kindness and self-acceptance. It's a book about how every seemingly happy ending creates a new set of struggles to contend with, which you have to keep trying your best to overcome. while also making good moral decisions and finding some kind of peace in spite of hardship. It's also a book about how things often seem to happen for a reason, and how unexpectedly wonderful things can happen as a result of painful struggles.

The book has some interesting meditations on working hard, staying positive, compassion, the importance of family and reading. Of these mediations, the one that is probably the most profound is that of the power of understanding and compassion, even towards people who have done terrible things. This book doesn't condone those terrible things -- it heavily emphasizes doing the RIGHT thing. But it definitely paints the characters as more complex humans than the classic Good Vs Evil stories do, which makes it all much more interesting and more relevant to real world conflicts.