The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Title: The Grimm Legacy
Author: Polly Shulman
ISBN: 9780399250965
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Page #: 325
Source: From my Library

Summary:
"Lonely at her new school, Elizabeth takes a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository, hoping to make new friends as well as some cash. The repository is no ordinary library. It lends out objects rather than books - everything from tea sets and hockey sticks to Marie Antoinette's everyday wig.

It's also home to the Grimm Collection, a secret room in the basement. That's where powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales are locked away: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White's step-mother's sinister mirror that talks in riddles and has a will of its own.

When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth and her new friends embark on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before they're accused of the crime themselves - or the thief captures them."
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First Lines:

"Snow fell hard: big, sticky flakes that got under my coat collar where the top button was missing. The weather had delayed my subway, and I was worried I would be late for class."
Page 1
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Review:

This was absolutely a case of picking up a book simply because of its cover. Isn't it really cool?! I thought it was amazing, so I purchased it for my library and took it out as soon as we got it. Luckily, this was a situation where it actually paid off for me to pick this one up :).

What a fun story! It's all about a girl getting a job in a repository - aka library. I mean, how could I not like it! I mean, the whole description of the pneumatic tubes, organization system, all of that... it just made me smile. But that's probably just my lame-o librarian self. I also really enjoyed some of the descriptions of the librarians - especially when they're super-typical. :)

This has a great portion of mystery thrown in with all of the magic. The magic stuff is mostly centered around the Grimm stories. I won't lie, this book made me wish I knew all of the fairy tales - I know a lot of them, but this book referenced a few I had never heard of. But I really like how the mystery unfolded... the mystery of the disappearing objects. I was really worried through the first part of the story that I was going to figure it out too quickly, but really I was off track a bit. It was very rewarding.

I think this book fits so well in both mystery and fantasy categories, I would give it to either genre-lover. A fun story that I know many people will enjoy. There's only one bit that I wish I could have changed - the main character, Elizabeth, spent her entire first introduction to the repository worried about the Grimm Collection. Everything related back to it. Everything was about it (even when it wasn't). On and on. But that's not something that ruined the story or anything - just enough to irritate me a little bit.

Very recommended. I think a lot of people will enjoy this one. Everyone remembers being told fairy tales at one point or another - and this does a great job bringing those back in a new and interesting way. Check out the author's website and look at all the other great books she has to offer! This one was a great read :).
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