9. Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita - I was surprised to find I really enjoyed this one. As much of a Disnerd as I am, Snow White has never been my favorite Princess. Actually, she's my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE what she represents in terms of filmmaking - the very first full length feature film to be 100% animated. But I've always gravitated towards the other Princesses, especially "take charge" ones who do their best to make their own lives, like Belle and Jasmine, for example. Anyway, the tagline for the book is ' What if the Evil Queen poisoned the Prince? Honestly, I felt like this was extremely misleading. The book is 95% a retelling of the movie we all know and love, but with a twist that didn't feel so much like a twist, but felt like it 100% COULD have happened. It tells of how Snow's parents left the scene, of her aunt's (The Evil Queen) rise to power, how the Queen came to learn the Dark Arts and find the magic mirror, and why Snow isn't the Queen, when she rightfully has a claim to the throne. The stuff about the Prince being poisoned and Snow (who is a real take charge leader in this - a nice, refreshing change of pace from the Sleeping Beauty book) confronting her aunt is just a very few pages at the very end of the book. All in all, a very fun read, even if seeing the Prince name "Henrich/Henri" was like chewing a mouthful of glass for me. True Disnerds know that, while his name is never said on screen, his name is Florian. Also, Grumpy seemed less grumpy and more "grumble once or twice but otherwise throw himself in as Snow's staunchest alley." And Doc didn't have his trademark mixed up words. (In the movie, him saying something like "first light" would come out as "lirst fight" before he corrected himself.)
10. Percy Jackson: The Battle for the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan - Loved this installment of the series. We get to pop into and out of the famous Labyrinth of myth and even get to meet it's creator, Daedalus. Even very old mythological creatures get to show up, like Briares, the last living Hundred Handed One - a creature even older than the Olympian Gods.
11. Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan - Percy and his friends finally face down Cronos, who has regenerated into the body of a former demigod. The battle rages across New York City, culminating in a final, epic clash on Olympus (the 600th floor of the Empire State Building). I loved this one too. A great series and I'm a little sad to move on from it. Luckily, there is the Heroes of Olympus series that I just bought for myself...I mean the kids...yes, that's right...the kids...
Terry - I'm glad you were inspired to check out the Disney Twisted Tales! My favorites have been the Frozen, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan ones so far! (I've put a hold on the recently released Hercules one with the library and hope it comes through soon.)
