An unforgettable take on a favorite fairy tale by multi-award-winning author Jane Yolen

Summer's life in the mountains of West Virginia feels like a fairy tale--her parents dote on her, and she's about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking their mother with him, Summer's life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face and Summer's father is under her spell, but Summer suspects she's up to no good--and is afraid she is powerless to stop her.
Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother. All of Yolen's stories and poems are rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate paper-cut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding. View titles by Jane Yolen
Mirror, mirror on the wall…

"Fear the Hunter," the mirror's masked face said, startling me out of my memories.

“Fear the Hunter, fear the knife,
Fear the edge that takes a life.”


The mirror spoke as if Hunter was capitalized, like a name or a rank of some kind.

"The Hunter? Who's that?" I asked, but the mirror had gone silent. In the silence I heard a car door slam right outside.

Stepmama was home.

I slipped back out of her room so fast my shadow had trouble keeping up, and I headed down the hallway as if going to the bathroom.

That was where she found me.
"Beautifully written and deliciously scary."
Publishers Weekly

"Yolen spins an interesting variation of the classic Snow White story."
Kirkus Reviews

"A well-imagined and well-told addition to collections of retold fairy tales."
School Library Journal

About

An unforgettable take on a favorite fairy tale by multi-award-winning author Jane Yolen

Summer's life in the mountains of West Virginia feels like a fairy tale--her parents dote on her, and she's about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking their mother with him, Summer's life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face and Summer's father is under her spell, but Summer suspects she's up to no good--and is afraid she is powerless to stop her.

Author

Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother. All of Yolen's stories and poems are rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate paper-cut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding. View titles by Jane Yolen

Excerpt

Mirror, mirror on the wall…

"Fear the Hunter," the mirror's masked face said, startling me out of my memories.

“Fear the Hunter, fear the knife,
Fear the edge that takes a life.”


The mirror spoke as if Hunter was capitalized, like a name or a rank of some kind.

"The Hunter? Who's that?" I asked, but the mirror had gone silent. In the silence I heard a car door slam right outside.

Stepmama was home.

I slipped back out of her room so fast my shadow had trouble keeping up, and I headed down the hallway as if going to the bathroom.

That was where she found me.

Praise

"Beautifully written and deliciously scary."
Publishers Weekly

"Yolen spins an interesting variation of the classic Snow White story."
Kirkus Reviews

"A well-imagined and well-told addition to collections of retold fairy tales."
School Library Journal

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