

Still Thinking
I finished reading Cary Fagan’s Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door aloud to my 10-year-old on Saturday (I started reading it to her while she was doing her sock chore, and she didn’t want to stop), and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about it. If I thought Fagan was going for realistic fiction, I’d be irritated, but I can’t quite believe he is; the idea of real people and fairy tales and how they might come together feels a little meta. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that?) Still, Andie’s fantasy feels a little off for the 21st century. (On the other hand, her poems are a hoot, so there’s that.) This story of a girl who feels her new neighbor might be the famous Hans Christian Andersen has a splash of Roald Dahl, a splash of Daniel Pinkwater, and a splash of someone else that my memory isn’t producing for me at the moment. The illustrations aren’t so much my style, but they’re fun, and the messages on friendship and people and their motivations are absolutely real. If you’re a fan of subversively fresh takes on fairy tales, give this short, quirky novel a try.
Just be ready to suspend healthy amounts of disbelief.
In other news, my oldest is over her flu but my youngest has a bad case of the coughs, so she’s home today. We did have fun playing games last night, however, and it was honestly a nice weekend all around. Cross your fingers that my girlie won’t be coughing up a lung during her debate tournament tomorrow!