The early pages of Rapunzel’s Revenge follow most tales of Rapunzel a reader night be familiar with. A young girl is being raised by Mother Gothel in an elegant villa, but the young girl never does exactly what her mother wants, such as learning how to throw a lasso from a guardsman and wanted to know what lies beyond the villa’s wall. Rapunzel climbs the wall to look over and sees the desert plains that stretch out as far as the eye can see and the lines for the slave mines. And her true mother, one that she didn’t remember until she saw her. Rapnuzel’s insubordination leads to her getting locked inside a tree Mother Gothel uses her magic of growth to create as a tower and leaves Rapunzel there for years. Her hair grows to the fabled proportions, long enough that years later, Rapunzel lassos a nearby tree and escapes. Her journey has begun, one where she meets up with Jack and the pair start on their adventure together. Jack always wants to take the easy way out: theft, manipulation, but Rapunzel is always the voice of lawful reason unless the situation drives her to break her morals, such as stealing horses from men that want to hurt her and Jack. They embark together on the goal of getting Rapunzel back to the villa so she can confront Gothel and save her mother. Along the way they meet other outlaws, get duped by a rancher out of pay they earned, and a crazy man that might have given them the key to ending Gothel’s reign.
The setting is not what one might expect, set in a western setting with horses, spurs, lassos, and endless plains trapped in Gothel’s drought. The clothes worn by the characters fir the appropriate time and lead to Rapunzel getting into jeans and chaps and cowboy boots. The color variances through the graphic novel help with the ambiance and the worldbuilding, such as the lush greens and rainbows of Gothel’s garden, to the darkness of the swampy forest where Rapunzel is imprisoned, to the sepia and earth tones of barren dirt, dried out land, and mountains.
The story is engaging, one that follows a true heroine’s journey, and is a vibrant retelling of a classic fairy tale. Any child that loves the old tales and children that love gunslingers and horse wranglers will be drawn to this graphic novel. As the story progresses, more tales peek their heads into the narrative, but those are secrets better discovered through the reading, such as discovering the means to weaken Gothel.
School Library Journal reviewer, Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, felt “Rapunzel is no damsel in distress, she wields her long braids as both rope and weaponbut she happily accepts Jacks teamwork and friendship. While the witchs castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after” (2008).
It’s no wonder that in 2009 this graphic novel won the Notable Children’s Book award.
Hale, S. and Hale, D. Rapunzel’s Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury USA. (200
8). Graphic Novel.
Kinsey, Cara von Wrangel. “Rapunzel’s Revenge – Book Review”. School Library Journal: 2008. https://ipage.ingramcontent.com/ipage/servlet/ibg.common.titledetail.pd1000?queryString=H4sIAAAAAAAAAKtWKk5RskpLzClO1VEqzs9XsiopKgUyC0qUrJSc8vOzlYDs4iolK0MDAyArByjq6efuqwRSDGQHhDq5hIA4BUpW0dGGOkpAtndqZXl-UUp8SGZJTiqQX5RYUJpXlZqjXqxQlFqWmpeeqhQbWwsA9_w_cHkAAAA&R=8665640 Accessed
November, 2017.
American Library Association. “Rapunzel’s Revenge”.
http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/content/rapunzels-revenge
Accessed 20 November, 2017.
Ramblings of Jhenry 