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Be careful what you wish for, especially if the wish is being granted by a fair (as opposed to excellent or a good) godmother. In Janette Rollison’s sassy novel My Fair Godmother, it isn’t the studious, sensible, smart sister who needs a little magic – it’s her younger sister, Savannah, with the big problem that only a fairy godmother can solve.
Who knew that pretty and popular girls like Savannah needed anything, right? Who would ever guess that her scholarly big sister would take Savannah’s boyfriend, or that fashionable Savannah would have the mother of all wardrobe malfunctions in front of half the school? Enter Chrysanthemum Everstar, a fairy godmother apprentice who is exactly like Savannah – fond of shopping and partying and never ever on time for anything.
Lesson number one when dealing with a spirit like Chrysanthemum: be specific. Savannah’s impetuous wish that “…my life could be like a fairy tale. You know, with a handsome prince waiting for me at the ball, and that … everything would work out happily ever after…” catapults her into the Middle Ages, inexplicably cast in the role of Cinderella. Forget about the fancy dress ball – that’s still months away. In the meantime, Savannah has to clean the chimney, milk the cow, muck out the stalls, and meekly accept whatever cruelty her mean stepsisters dole out. Plus, there are no shampoo or boutiques in fairytale world! Chrysanthemum is no help, since she’s away on a long shopping trip and doesn’t bother returning her messages.
Savannah’s adventures get more challenging and more entertaining with each page. Every attempt to extricate herself from the mess her wish has gotten her into leads to more trouble, eventually involving Savannah and the people closest to her in the Black Knight’s dangerous and complicated plot to kill the boy Savannah loves.
My Fair Godmother is a delight to read, but it’s not light reading. Rollison lays bare the likely truth about those charming fairytale princes and exposes the ugly side of ogres, dragons and the Seven Dwarfs. Along the way, Savannah and the reader discover that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the magic mirror, and that pretty, popular girls have their own special brand of intelligence.
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My Fair Godmother