New Book: Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All by Jane Yolen

It's finally here! Today is the release date for Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All by Jane Yolen. I received an ARC of this one and it is lovely. Yolen's rich language and adept storytelling make for a compelling story and I enjoyed this one very much.

However, I would say it is for the age range provided and older. I started it with my precocious reading 8 1/2 year old niece who was somewhat bored--she rushed back to her library books of Hinduism for Dummies and Beekeeping for Dummies. (Really. She is very precocious and I adore her.) It may have been a bad day for her, but she glommed up A Tale Dark and Grimm, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Eragon in years past. It could also be taste although she likes fairy tale novels I share with her in general.

As for myself, I've been a Yolen fan since Briar Rose and Snow in Summer is a boon while very different. Yes, we are inundated with Snow White in other media formats these days, but novels of her story are currently few and far between which also made this one refreshing.

I hope to write a more in-depth review soon but I read this shortly before my trip to Europe and am still recovering brain cells from jet lag and overstimulation the past several weeks from before, during, and after trip demands.

From the publisher:

With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale 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, but Summer suspects she's up to no good - and is afraid she's powerless to stop her.

This Snow White tale filled with magic and intrigue during the early twentieth century in Appalachia will be hard to forget.

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up