by Ron Koertge
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2012
96 pages
Genre: Poetry & Novels in Verse
Publication Information
Writing in free verse honed to a wicked edge, the incomparable Ron Koertge brings dark and contemporary humor to twenty iconic fairy tales.
Once upon a time, there was a strung-out match girl who sold CDs to stoners. Twelve impetuous sisters escaped King Daddy's clutches to jiggle and cavort and wear out their shoes. A fickle Thumbelina searched for a tiny husband, leaving bodies in her wake. And Little Red Riding Hood confessed that she kind of wanted to know what it's like to be swallowed whole. From bloodied and blinded stepsisters (they were duped) to a chopped-off finger flying into a heroine's cleavage, this is fairy tale world turned upside down. Ron Koertge knows what really happened to all those wolves and maidens, ogres and orphans, kings and piglets, and he knows about the Ever After. So come closer - he wants to whisper in your ear.
Ages 14+
"Starred Review. From Bluebeard's beheaded wives to a bloody dismemberment in 'The Robber Bridegroom,' there are gruesome surprises throughout. A fiendishly clever and darkly funny collection. Ages 14–up." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. A much-honored poet and novelist retells, in free verse and from various points of view, twenty-three familiar tales (mostly Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault). With a contemporary sensibility and voice, Koertge pitches directly to teenagers... Dezsö’s choice of cut-paper illustrations is brilliant, a nod to Hans C. Andersen's skill in that medium despite the radically different tone." - The Horn Book
"Laden with entrails, revealed bone stumps, and bushels of decapitated heads, Dezsö’s distinctive cut-paper silhouettes are dripping with grotesquery but also beautiful in their own indelible fashion. And they're a perfect match for Koertge's gritty, druggy, sexed-up visions. Grades 10-12." - Booklist
"Will catch some eyes, but this feels like edginess for edginess's sake, no deeper." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ron Koertge is the author of many award-winning novels, including Stoner & Spaz and its sequel, Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II; Shakespeare Bats Cleanup; Strays; Deadville; Margaux with an X; The Brimstone Journals; and The Arizona Kid. A two-time winner of the PEN Literary Award for Children's Literature, he lives in South Pasadena, California. Visit him online at www.ronkoertge.com.
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