Thanks for joining me for a book club discussion featuring Jen Calonita’s fantasy novel, TRICKED (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), the latest release in the FAIRY TALE REFORM SCHOOL series.
This series is about a reform school for fairy tale characters who live in the kingdom of Enchantasia where adventures occur. There is a pirate, a fairy, an evil stepsister, a royal, an ogre, and the main character, Gilly Cobbler, the shoemaker’s daughter. Only in this new third book in the series, the school has been taken over by the trickster Rumpelstiltskin. The main characters have to go on a quest to save their school and find themselves in the process. Here are some questions to get you started:
- Ruby would love this book for its fairy tale characters and Gilly, the brave and loyal main character, who is most like her because she doesn’t give up. Which character in the book is the most like you, and why?
- I love the Magical Fairy Pets class. Ruby would like to be chosen by a unicorn. I would like to be chosen by a phoenix. What magical animal would you like to choose you?
- Gilly returns to FTRS to save her sister Anna, but Anna doesn’t want to be saved. Have you ever tried to help someone who didn’t want helping? What did you do? What could Gilly have done differently to help her sister?
- On the quest, the students have to pass three tests to prove their strength, courage and their intelligence. Which test do you think was the most difficult and why?
- Gilly realizes that she can’t be a hero without help from her friends. Why do you think the author wrote the story this way? Do you agree with Gilly?
- FTRS is filled with characters from many fairy tales and nursery rhymes only sometimes the characters are very different from what we expect. Which character surprised you the most and why?
- I laughed many times while I was reading this book. I laughed the most when Gilly first sees Stiltskin on the mantle. What part of the book made you laugh the most?
- Gilly doesn’t want to become a cobbler even though her parents expect it of her and this is one of the reasons she wants to be at FTRS. Why do you think she doesn’t tell her parents how she feels? Have you ever felt like Gilly? What did you do about it?
- The book ends with another adventure. What do you think will happen in the next book?
Thanks for being part of our book club today. Hope to see you again soon!