I used to be an English teacher. I taught freshman special ed, among other classes. As a result, I got into the habit of perusing the teen literature section at my favorite book stores to find new, interesting books for the kids, who were often struggling readers, to explore. This habit never broke.While at the bookstore a few weeks back, I was looking through the teen section for a book for The Kid, who tends to shirk his reading duties (which, as a former teacher, drives me nutty!). I didn't find anything for him, but I did find Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino.
I'll admit, it was the cover that got me. The illustration flagged my stepmom radar and I stopped dead in my tracks. After reading the summary- "Another tale, far less often spoken of is the one that explains what caused the Queen to become so contemptuously vile" - I knew I was taking this book home with me.
Valentino is a popular comic book writer; she writes GloomCookie, a series of tales about the goth subculture with funky artwork and original storylines. Fairest of All is her first novel.
If you are a literary critic, the prose of this book will not impress you. But that's part of what I love about it. It is so easy to read that any 8-year-old could pick it up and breeze through it. And that is so important because - wait for it - this book offers a look into the stepmother's psyche. Suddenly, the prosaic Wicked Stepmom (hi, nicetameetya) is given a own voice of her own.
Readers are given an entire backstory to The Queen - her troubled childhood, how she came to marry the king, their relationship before his death, her incredible love for him and his daughter, her daughter. Wait, what? Yes, this Wicked Stepmother loves her stepdaughter. TRIUMPH!!!!! Finally! One of the Disney stepmothers admits that she loves her stepdaughter! And this book was on a special shelf, highlighted for all browsers of the teen section to see! I am so excited to think that an interested tween, a bored 15-year-old, an confused stepdaughter might pick up this book and think twice. Is it just me, or is this huge???
This tale's Wicked Stepmother struggles with finding her place amidst the legacy of Snow White's birth mother. She feels lonely, depressed and relies heavily on her magic mirror to help her feel like the woman she wants to be (don't we all have our own magnificent obsession?). She tries so hard to protect Snow White from the monster she knows she is becoming (sort of like our tongues resemble Swiss cheese after a particularly trying visit with the kids). This Queen just happens to succumb to the darkness that we, as stepmothers, have all have experienced. No one other than a stepmother will quite understand her struggle.
"The Queen had so much promise within her - so much power to make the world better. But instead she allowed darkness to guide her, blind to any other way."
There is no doubt that Queen is still evil. She still plots and schemes against her stepdaughter. She still makes selfish, vain decisions just like she does in the animated classic. However, the twists in this story remind us that things are not always as they seem.
No, it's not a literary masterpiece (mind you, I read Victorian literature for fun) but it is an amusing, easy book to read. And it's out there for any kid, any stepkid, any ol' person to pick up and read. Above all, it offers an alternative viewpoint to what many young children have been cultured to believe.
Check. It. Out.
