My last “Five Reasons to Read It” was posted a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.  It’s been a wild and crazy year, and though I’ve read many books, I’ve had zero time to write about them.

HOWEVER!  Tomorrow, author Anna Staniszewski will be stopping by this humble blog to share a little bit about her upcoming new release (THE PRANK LIST, coming July 1st from Sourcebooks) and to shed some light on what an author’s schedule looks like after she sells a book.

In advance of her visit, and in honor of it, I bring you:

Five Reasons to Read It #12

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE
By Anna Staniszewski
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2011

Here are five reasons to read it:

1. It’s funny.  A herd of angry unicorns is funny.  Lines like “These days everyone wants their hair crimped for that carefree llama look” are funny. 
2. Cliches are cliches because they’re true.  Staniszewski makes a device of cliches by both turning them into a character trait and making them a tool in Jenny’s adventure arsenal.
3. Little details about Jenny’s time in her “amazingly average” school rang true to this middle school teacher – things like “But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t find squirting ketchup up someone else’s nose funny.”  Me either, Jenny.  
4. The characters are their own people, with their own quirks. Aunt Evie prefers animals to people.  Jenny relaxes by putting golf balls. 
5. For such a light romp, there were moments when I was creeped out, and I think that’s a good thing.  Without giving too much away, certain magic has an upsetting physical side effect, which is scary when the reality of it is reinforced with details such as reminding the reader that Jenny can now only breathe through her nose and can’t afford to let it get clogged.  Those are the kinds of little realities that make me tense, and tension is good.