Rapunzel's Revenge

Title: Rapunzel's Revenge

Author: Shannon and Dean Hale

Illustrated by: Nathan Hale (no relation)

Genre: Sci-Fi and Fairy Tale (Graphic Novel)

Everyone knows the basic story of Rapunzel: a witch takes her and puts her in the tower so that no one can find her. She is rescued by a prince and lives happily ever after. Right? Not so in this story of Rapunzel. Rapunzel is a lasso waving, horse riding girl in a palace. One day, her curiosity gets the best of her and she climbs up the towers in her palace and finds things she never knew about. Because of this, her mother banishes her to a hollow in a tree where her hair consistenly grows. Each year her mother asks if she learned her lesson, each year Rapunzel stays stubborn. She soon escapes with a boy named Jack and is determined to restore her palace and kingdom to what she thought it was. Her mother and her never have a good relationship which makes it easier for Rapunzel to wield her long hair and cause the downfall of a "tyrant" within the story.

I think this book would be great to introduce comics and the use of them for writing. I believe students would enjoy creating their own comics and stories for them. I love the idea of a new twist on an old story. They can each be assigned a story they have each heard of and know, and create their own version within a comic strip. This will show them that there are varieties in writing and they can all be useful to tell a story.