Donna Jo Napoli

Hm....hmmm. "I control the fish girl" Neptune the fisherman proclaims to an unsuspecting crowd of visitors, visitors of his magnificent aquarium of untold treasures. The most valuable one is an adolescent mermaid who can't talk. An adolescent mermaid who was raised by a man that calls her his treasure. No she doesn't get a name. She gets to be his pet, his main attraction. This book is disturbingly normal. It reminds me of a fable or fairy tale meant to be a cautionary tale, but ironically most people find it more entertaining than scary. You have a grown-ass man build a whole aquarium to house a kidnapped mermaid. He tells her stories about her people as payment for going along with his rouse. She plays hide and seek with the guest,making sure they don't see her. They drop coins into the tank and she collects them. Everybody wins! But there is trouble in the horizon when he finds out about her only human friend, Livia. Who tries to tell her mom, but is promptly ignored. Mira, the name Lucia assigns to her knew friend is tired of being imprisoned and ventures out and discovers she wants to be apart of the human… (més)

This is the retelling of Hansel and Gretel from the viewpoint of the wicked witch. She is simply called Ugly One in Magic Circle. She may be ugly but Napoli wants you to think she has a good heart. Ugly One starts off as a loving single parent to a daughter named Asa and works as a healer blessed with magic powers. She is able to bring sick people back to health and dangerous pregnancies back from the brink of death. Her reputation as a sorceress borders on evil because with great powers comes temptations and an easy fall from grace. When the Ugly One starts accumulating gems and jewels as payment for her services, greed sets in. All she can see is her daughter clothed in wealth; "diamonds on the soles of her shoes." Blinded by a gem, she makes a deal with the devil and her fate is at once sealed. She becomes a true witch who cannot bleed or cry; banished to live in the deep woods as a hermit and destine to eat small children. Enter Hansel and Gretel. Are they Asa's children?
As an aside, the number nine seems to be important. Peter reads to the Ugly One for nine years and the Ugly One lives alone in her sugar cottage for nine years before Hansel and Gretel come along. I am sure there is religious significance with the number nine.
As another aside, the character of Bala reminded me of Iago. I never knew if I could trust her even though the Ugly One called her a friend.… (més)