Cinderella in the City

Reviewed by: Mary Lehmer - Freeport Community Library, Freeport, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 1, 2015

Review

This early reader is a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. It takes place in a city setting but instead of a ball, Cinderella wants to win the Prince’s dance contest so she can go to the Royal Dance Academy and be his partner there. The story has a mean stepmother, selfish stepsisters, glass slippers and a fairy godmother. The nice thing about this retelling is that it is done in a way that the focus isn’t on how mean the sisters are but what Cinderella does to get to the contest. The ending offers a nice twist too- instead of marrying a prince; Cinderella goes to a dance academy. Readers will enjoy the modern parts of the story including the dresses and cell phones. The words are appropriate for a new reader but the story line is a bit more sophisticated than some early readers which will appeal to readers wanting a bit more to their story. The one thing that took away from the book was the first page, which shows a text from Cinderella’s stepmother telling Cinderella to get her a mocha. I am not sure that young readers will be familiar with ordering a mocha but even if they are, it just seemed out of place with the rest of the story.

Overall Book Score: good