CM Magazine: Cinderella's Dress.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XXII Number 18 . . . . January 15, 2016

cover

Cinderella's Dress.

Shonna Slayton.
Fort Collins, CO: Entangled Publishing (Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books), 2014.
322 pp., trade pbk. & Ebook, $10.99 (pbk.).
ISBN 978-1-62266-340-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-62266-341-5 (Ebook).

Subject Headings:
Teenage girls-Fiction.
Families-Fiction.
World War, 1939-1945-Fiction.
Grades 7-10 / Ages 12-15.

Review by Laura Dunford.

*** /4

excerpt:

Kate felt the room spin. Did Elsie call Queen Kopciuszek... Cinderella?

"Do you mean the fairy tale?" she asked, hoping to clarify the English.

Elsie smiled broadly.

Holy Toledo! Elsie thought she was the Keeper of the Wardrobe for Cinderella. That Cinderella! Kate glanced around the room to see if anyone else reacted to the announcement. Mom was staring at the radio, looking lost in her own thoughts as she listened for an update on the war. Floyd had just picked up the paper. And Adalbert was focused on scraping lint off his sweater. Finally, he looked up and met her eyes. His look was earnest. It said: Believe her.

Kate's mouth went dry. They actually thought their family was responsible for keeping Cinderella's dress hidden.

Cinderella's Dress is about 18-year-old Kate Allen as she struggles to become a window dresser for Harmon-Craig. Upon the arrival of her great-aunt and uncle, she learns that she is next in line to be the Keeper of Cinderella's wardrobe. Her job is to protect the magical garments from the heirs of the princess' evil stepsisters.

The story moves slowly at first as Slayton lays out the landscape of New York during the end of World War II, focussing on fashion and dialect as well as Kate's home-life as it changes in response to the war. It is in the last third of the book that the stakes are raised and the setup pays off.

Slayton has a lot of fun using 40s slang like, "moxie" and "yowzah" but also takes the time to flesh out Kate's Polish heritage through her interactions with her great-aunt and uncle.

Cinderella's Dress is the perfect book for any young aspiring hipsters interested in fairy tales, World War II, or learning some retro lingo.

Recommended.

Laura Dunford is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Children's Literature program at the University of British Columbia and is currently pursuing her post-graduate certificate in publishing at the Centennial Story Arts Centre.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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