Into the Wild

by Sarah Beth Durst

Overview

When the magical world of the Wild takes over Julie’s town, she must venture deep into the heart of the fairy tale to outsmart wicked witches, feisty giants, and super cute princes in the ultimate quest to save her family. But can an ordinary girl defeat the happily-ever-after?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440632631
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/29/2008
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	518,527
File size:	671 KB
Age Range:	10 - 11 Years

About the Author

Sarah Beth Durst grew up in Northboro, MA, a town in central Massachusetts which (she claims) was temporarily transformed into a fairy-tale kingdom for several days in 1986. These events later inspired her novel, INTO THE WILD, as well as her paralyzing fear of glass footwear.Sarah has been writing fantasy stories since she was ten years old. She holds an English degree from Princeton University and currently resides in Stony Brook, NY, with her husband and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-7
Something strange is trying to grow under 12-year-old Julie's bed. Her mother, Rapunzel, wants to keep it hidden, but The Wild is determined to escape and when it does, it turns Julie's town into a fairy tale on steroids. Rapunzel's been trying to lead a normal life, but now all the plots and patterns of the old stories threaten to ensnare everyone within reach, former fairy-tale characters and denizens of the modern suburbs, alike. Julie has to do some sleuthing, some quick thinking, and learn to negotiate her way past expected, stereotypical folkloric responses in order to break The Wild's hold on reality. The implicit messages about self-actualization and assertiveness do not lie too heavily atop the fun. Amusing, but not profound.
—Miriam Lang BudinCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Imagining something called "The Wild," which might eat your shoes while living under your bed, might be easier for a 12-year-old than an adult. But The Wild doesn't stay under Julie's bed for long, and its identity emerges quickly for all readers. Once unleashed, it threatens to take over the entire community where fairy-tale characters live peaceful, ordinary lives in suburban Massachusetts. Set free by someone making a wish at the "Wishing Well Motel," it now re-launches the characters into their stories. Julie, however, blames herself for setting the fairy-tale cycle in motion: She has wished that her mother not be her mother. She's tired of being odd without knowing why, of entertaining the seven dwarves for dinner, of being picked up by Cindy in her orange Subaru and hanging out in the hair salon her mother, Zel, operates. Zel enters The Wild immediately to free the fairy-tale characters and stop its progression. Julie enters it to save her mother-and to learn her true identity and about the absent father she longs for. Deeper than most rewritten fairy tales, this existential story is chunked with big ideas about the fairy-tale genre, yet the story is lightened with touches that will connect with its audience. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews