Farley Malone and the Fudge Up Fables is a new middle grade story written by Tanzy Kohl. It follows twelve year old Farley Malone, who loves to read fables with her grandmother, MeeMaw. She and her MeeMaw are very close and Farley feels like MeeMaw is the only one who truly understands her. So when MeeMaw gives her a lime green teddy bear with a secret box inside to hold for her, she promises to guard it with her life. And all seems to going well until her cousin Ebony gets involved…
Farley and Ebony live two completely different lives. Farley is from the projects while Ebony is more well to do. They also both have different relationships with their grandmother. So when Ebony comes over to the house, Farley can’t help but show her the bear and the box. Inside of the box are a deck of cards and a press on nail. Ebony challenges Farley to put the press on nail onto one of her nails and she caves. Now the nail won’t come off…
The night after putting the nail on her finger, Farley is awoken during the night by two strange men. It turns out that the men are the Grimm brothers and something bad is happening in their fable world. If she is up to it, the brothers need Farley’s help to fix it, and the nail and the deck of cards play an important role in what she has to do. They give her time to weigh her options but remind her that time is of the essence. The fables are very important to Farley so after a bit of hesitation she agrees to help them. Only she doesn’t expect Ebony to stick her nose in as well…
This is such a creative book. As a older reader it brought me back to my childhood and kept me entertained from beginning to end. It turns out that within the fable world some of the fables have had a spell put on them where the character are now inside different stories. For example, the cow isn’t the one who feels the need to jump over the moon. If Farley isn’t able to fix the fables soon they will forever be stuck like this! She must be innovative and determined to stay on task which is not always her strong suit. She also has to figure out how to work with her cousin instead of fighting with her. There are lessons about responsibility, family, and being different.
With Farley and her cousin both being pre-teens, Farley Malone and the Fudged Up Fables really puts a focus on those years when children feel like they need to completely step away from their childhood. Trying to solve the problems with the fables allows Farley to continue to do something she enjoys and is not ashamed of. I thought the author did a wonderful job with encouraging children to stay children as long as they can and to enjoy themselves. The lessons about responsibility, family, and being different are also done really well without being preachy. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages as I think there is something to gain for everyone. For younger readers, it may be the lessons. For older readers, it may be a return back to childhood. Whatever the reason, it is an enjoyable ready for all.
Rating: 4 Stars
**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
welcome to the zoo! 