Breadcrumbs by Anna Ursu

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Posted 10/28/2011 by alicemarvels in Fantasy
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Overview

Genre:
 
Author:
 
Year:
 
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
 
Release Date: September 27th 2011
 
Page Count: 313
 
Synopsis: Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else. And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.
 

PROS:

whimsical childhood, gutsy girl, book-lover's paradise, classic update
 

CONS:

too short
 
BOTTOM LINE

A fairy tale for kids…..or the whimsical adult Hazel has trouble fitting in, because she stands out at her new school in EVERY way. She can’t focus, her imagination runs wild, she has trouble with being on time, doing work diligently, and getting along with other students. Luckily for her, she has Jack, her best [...]

by alicemarvels
Full Article

A fairy tale for kids…..or the whimsical adult

Hazel has trouble fitting in, because she stands out at her new school in EVERY way. She can’t focus, her imagination runs wild, she has trouble with being on time, doing work diligently, and getting along with other students. Luckily for her, she has Jack, her best friend and next door neighbor, to get into all kinds of trouble with. But one day, everything changes—Jack is acting differently, and Hazel doesn’t really know why…..

This retelling of The Snow Queen was delightfully imaginative, beautifully written, and the characters sparkled off the pages. I absolutely loved brave, determined Hazel. OF COURSE she goes after Jack when he is lured in by the Snow Queen. She’s his fierce and loyal best friend, even if he’s changed, and doesn’t seem to remember.

I loved what a bookworm Hazel is, and how she seems to have a soft spot for all the books that I myself was obsessed with as a child. I love the relationship between Hazel and Jack, and how the whole story is in some ways a tale about friends, and how they grow up, and grow apart.

 

Anna Ursu’s writing is magical, and give the adult creepy overtones I love about Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. You know you’re reading a fairy tale that could be for kids, but you’re enjoying it like it’s a thriller. I would definitely recommend this to any adult reader who loved Coraline.


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