The Unfairest of Them All (Ever After High Series #2)

by Shannon Hale

Overview

It's the aftermath of Legacy Day, the day when the students at Ever After High are supposed to pledge to follow in their fairytale parents' footsteps, and everyone is in a huff and a puff! Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen, has refused to sign the Storybook of Legends, rejecting her story—and putting everyone else's in jeopardy.

The Royal Apple White doesn't want to think Raven is being a rebellious pain, but Raven's choice means Apple might never get the poisoned apple, Prince Charming, and a kingdom to rule. Behind Apple stands the Royals, those who want to play by the book and embrace their stories. The Rebels, supporters of Raven, believe in breaking free from destiny and writing their own stories.

But when the chaos and rivalry land wonderlandiful Madeline Hatter in trouble, Raven and Apple must bring the Royals and the Rebels together to shut the book on their feud before it threatens to end all of their Happily Ever Afters once and for all.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...Who'e the Unfairest of Them All?

Don't miss Book #1, Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594692362
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/25/2014
Series:	Ever After High Series , #2
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale knew at age ten it was her destiny to become a writer. She has quested deep into fairytales in such enchanting books as The Goose Girl, Book of a Thousand Days, Rapunzel's Revenge, Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy and Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends. With the princely and valiant writer Dean Hale, Shannon co-authored four charming children, who are free to follow their own destinies. Just so long as they get to bed on time.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Ever After High: Storybook of Legends:

"What's a girl to do when her mother is the fairy-tale world's worst evil queen? Follow in her footsteps? Never!

At the beginning of this series opener, it's the first day of school at Ever After High, where the offspring of famous fairy-tale characters begin their second year. For these students, Legacy Day beckons, at which time each will sign the Storybook of Legends and take the pledge to replay their parents' roles. Once they ink their names, the stories they spring from will be safely preserved, but if one does not, rumors have it that the tale-as well as the student-will vanish in a posthaste " poof." Most are all aflutter to fulfill their requisite destinies, but Raven Queen, the daughter of the exquisitely wicked Evil Queen, doesn't have an evil bone in her body. If she signs, she is duty-bound to poison Apple White (Snow's daughter), but she wants to create her own future. When Raven discovers that two fairy-tale sisters long ago broke their pledge, she enlists the sleuthing skills of her wacky roommate, Madeline (as in Hatter), and Apple herself to unravel the sisters' ultimate fate. Hale has created a delightfully revamped, newly fashioned cast of fairy-tale characters (and in hipper clothes no less-unsurprising, as the book introduces a new line of Mattel dolls) and gives readers a terrific protagonist to root for. Magic and humor abound, and fairy-tale wordplay flies.

Royal good fun. "

— Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"Rollicking...a fun read...Unexpected plot twits lead to an ending that, unlike a traditional "happy ever after," promises continued intrigue in new outings. This is a good bet for those who can't get enough of fractured and retold tales."

Booklist

05/01/2014
Gr 4–7—The fun and pun-filled fantasy hijinks of Raven and Apple ensue. Raven, with the support of the Rebels, refuses to sign the Storybook and seal her fate as a villain. Her actions put Apple's happy ever after in jeopardy and pit the kingdom's subjects against one another, as students and royals take sides.

School Library Journal

2014-04-22
Having failed to go poof when she refused to sign the Storybook of Legends on Legacy Day, Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen, must now face the consequences.The first consequence is a mega-epic food fight between Royals and Rebels. Seeking to restore order to Ever After High, Headmaster Grimm declares an early celebration of Yester Day so the students can connect with their elders, who properly followed their destinies—or have they? Desperate for leadership wisdom, Raven's roommate, Apple White (daughter of Snow), visits senile Old King Cole, tyrannical Empress Buff (as in those new clothes) and her mother, whose best advice is "to smile and make eye contact." Raven chooses to interview Red Riding Hood, whose distinctly unsanctioned, still-clandestine romance with "Baddy" resulted in their half-wolf daughter, Cerise. When the disruption at Ever After High leads to the banishment of their friend Madeline Hatter, Raven and Apple team up for a dangerous, last-ditch effort to save her that is very much against the rules. As in series opener The Storybook of Legends (2013), Hale goes to town with her premise, stretching the rules of her universe as much as Raven does. Particularly funny is Humphrey Dumpty as a hacker and rapper extraordinaire. But she never lets readers forget that the central question of her tale, the one that plagues her characters, is whether destiny prevents or is freedom.A delicious, pink-and-purple-frosted existential cupcake. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

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