Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood

by Liesl Shurtliff

Overview

Beauty and the Beast fans: satisfy your fairy tale cravings with the New York Times bestseller RED, a spellbinding adventure that features a brave heroine, plenty of pixies, a beast like no other, and a beauty too!

Red is not afraid of the big bad wolf. She’s not afraid of anything . . . except magic. But when Red’s granny falls ill, it seems that only magic can save her, and fearless Red is forced to confront her one weakness.
 
With the help of a blond, porridge-sampling nuisance called Goldie, Red goes on a quest to cure Granny. Her journey takes her through dwarves’ caverns to a haunted well and a beast’s castle. All the while, Red and Goldie are followed by a wolf and a huntsman—two mortal enemies who seek the girls’ help to defeat each other. And one of them just might have the magical solution Red is looking for. . . .
 
Liesl Shurtliff weaves a spellbinding tale, shining the spotlight on a beloved character from her award-winning debut, Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin.

"Moving and filled with hope . . . the charm of Shurtliff's retelling is how she imbues the storybook tropes with vibrant humanity."—Shelf Awareness, starred review

And don't miss Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, "a delightful story of family, perseverance and courage" (Booklist).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385755863
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	29,516
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Liesl Shurtliff grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has spent many magical days and nights in the woods. For better or worse, she has never come in contact with a wolf. Before she became a writer, Liesl graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music, dance, and theater. Her first book, Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, was named to over twenty state award lists and won an IRA Children’s Book Award, as well as earning a starred review from Kirkus,proclaiming it “as good as gold.” Her second book, Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, was also a hit with both critics and kids. She lives in Chicago with her family, where she continues to spin fairy tales. Follow her on Twitter at @LieslShurtliff or visit her at LieslShurtliff.com.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
Magical Mistakes
 
The first time I tried my hand at magic, I grew roses out of my nose. This was not my intention. I meant to grow flowers out of the ground, like any normal person would. But I’ve never been normal, and magic is unpredictable, finicky, and dangerous, especially in the wrong hands.

Granny had taught me magic from the cradle. Some grandmothers shower their grandbabies with cuddles and kisses and gumdrops. I got enchantments and spells and potions. Granny knew spells to conjure rain and wind, charms to make things grow or shrink, and enchantments of disguise and trickery. She could brew a potion to clear your mind or clear your stuffy nose. She had elixirs for toothaches, bellyaches, and heartaches, and a special balm for bottom itch. There was no end to the wonders of magic.
 
There was also no end to the troubles.

When I was five years old, I wanted to grow red roses for Granny’s birthday. Roses, because her name is Rose, and red, because my name is Red. They would be the per- fect gift. I knew I could do it. I had seen Granny grow fat orange pumpkins and juicy red berries straight out of the ground with just a wave of her hands and a few words.

I chose my own words with care.
 
Red Rose Charm
Sprout and blossom, red, red rose Let your fragrance fill my nose
 
I felt the tingle of the magic in my fingertips. I gave a flourish of the arm, a flick of the hand, just as Granny did, but nothing happened. I tried again. I spoke louder, flourished grander, and…

A red rose exploded out of my right nostril.

I tried to rub the rose off, but that only made me sneeze, and another rose shot out of my left nostril.

Granny could not stop laughing. You might even say she cackled.

“Granny! Do some-ding!” I sobbed through the roses. I expected her to wave her hands and make the roses disappear. Instead, she ripped them right out of my nose.

“Aaaaouch!” I screamed.

“Thank you for the roses,” said Granny, placing them in a vase on her table. “We can call them booger blossoms.”

“Achoo!” I replied.
 
Granny laughed for a full five minutes. I sneezed for five hours.

I’ll admit, it was sort of funny, even if it did hurt worse than pixie bites. But I worried that this might be an omen—that the magic was somehow wrong inside me. After the booger blossoms, I decided to stick to practical magic, such as a drying spell. I’d seen Granny do this countless times: just a snap of her fingers and she’d have dripping laundry dry in minutes.

But when I snapped my fingers, no wind came. Just fire. Yes, fire, as in flames. Flaming skirts and blouses and undergarments. In less than a minute, they were cinders and ash.

“Well, they’re certainly dry,” said Granny.

When I was six, I had a friend named Gertie. We were only allowed to play at her house with constant supervision from her mother, Helga. Helga was always worried. She worried Gertie would fall in a well or off a cliff. She worried Gertie would choke on her morning mush. She worried trolls would come in the night and carry Gertie away for their supper. This worrying became problematic when I wanted to take Gertie into The Woods to play.

“Mother says I’ll be eaten by wolves,” Gertie said.

“You won’t,” I said. “I’ve never been eaten by wolves, and I play in The Woods all the time.”

“Don’t you ever get lost? Mother is always afraid I’ll lose my way.”

“I’m never lost. I have a magic path.” Gertie’s eyes got as big as apples. Magic was rare, and my path was something special. It only appeared when I wanted it to, and it led me wherever I wanted to go in The Woods. Surely this would entice Gertie to come with me, but it didn’t. She stepped away from me. Her eyes grew wary.

“Mother says magic is dangerous.”

“My path isn’t dangerous,” I said with indignation. “Granny made it to keep me safe. She made it grow right out of the ground after a bear attacked me and I almost died.” I thought this would impress her. The possibility of death was always exciting, and being able to defy it with magic was even better.

“Mother says your granny is a witch,” said Gertie.

Of course Granny was a witch. I knew that, but Gertie said it like it was a bad thing. Desperation took hold of me. I really wanted to play with Gertie in The Woods. So I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I cast the Worrywart Spell on Gertie’s mother.
 
Worrywart Spell
Worry’s a wart upon your chin
It spreads and grows from deep within
Make the wart shrink day by day
Send your worries far away
 
Unfortunately, the spell did nothing to cure Helga’s worries. Instead, she grew a wart on her chin. The wart grew steadily bigger, day by day, until Granny was summoned to remedy my mistake. Needless to say, I wasn’t allowed to play with Gertie anymore—or anyone else—for, in addition to being a worrywart, Helga was also the village gossip. The news spread all over The Mountain.

“She’s a witch,” Helga told the villagers, “just like her grandmother.” She seemed to forget it was Granny who had cured her.

Gertie stopped talking to me, and no one else would even look at me. The magic in me grew hot and sticky. It coated my throat. It stung my eyes. I wished I could swallow it down and make it disappear.

“Don’t worry, Red,” Granny told me. “We all make mistakes. When I was your age, I tried to summon a rabbit to be my pet, and instead I called a bear to the door!”

“No!” I cried. “How did you survive?”

“The bear was actually quite nice. My sister married him.”

“She married a bear?”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. He wasn’t really a bear. He was a prince under a spell.”

This did nothing to alleviate my concerns. I didn’t want to marry a bear or a prince.
“All the magic I do is bad,” I said.

“Nonsense, child,” said Granny. “They’re only mistakes. It takes a hundred miles of mistakes before you arrive at your own true magic.”

“But what if my mistakes are too big?”

“No such thing, dear,” said Granny.

But she was wrong. I went on trying spells and charms and potions, and I went on making mistakes. Big ones. Small ones. Deadly ones.

My last mistake was worse than warts, fire, or roses out the nose.

Editorial Reviews

"Moving and filled with hope.... Red retells the story of the strong-minded girl in the red riding hood as a quest for friendship and self-knowledge." —Shelf Awareness starred review

"Liesl Shurtliff has truly outmagicked herself. Red is the most wonder-filled fairy tale of them all." —Chris Grabenstein, New York Times Bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"Liesl Shurtliff’s fairy tales are full of wit and wild imagination, with surprises at every bend in the path." —Caroline Carlson, author of The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates

"Red's narration is dry and sassy, her mishaps colorful, her quest eventful . . . and what is most heartening is how Red and Goldie grow and brave it all together. Fairy-tale fun with resonant depth." —Kirkus

"Red takes readers on a wild roam through story land, with plenty of magic and danger around every corner.... This is pure fun for fans of classic stories cleverly retold."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2016
Gr 4–7—The third in Shurtliff's collection of fairy tale-inspired spin-offs, Red takes readers on a wild roam through story land, with plenty of magic and danger around every corner. The title character is entrusted by her parents to make her way through the woods and mountains to find a cure for her ailing Granny. Storybook characters pop up unpredictably to help (and hinder) her along the way. She learns quickly that "beautiful" and "good" are not synonymous and how to take risks in the face of fear. Shurtliff deftly weaves familiar characters and subplots into an original jaunt through the fairy tale genre. The protagonist is plucky and determined but unsure of her own powers of decision-making. Goldie, Red's less-than-stellar sidekick, adds an innocence that Red lacks, as well as a perfect possible protagonist for a future installment. The dialogue between characters is contemporary and humorous. Every secondary character leaves a lasting impression on Red, setting up readers to anticipate each new encounter with dwarfs, sprites, or beasts. As moralizing as fairy tales can be, the author wisely lets Red make mistakes and draw her own conclusions. VERDICT This is pure fun for fans of classic stories cleverly retold.—Jane Miller, Nashville Public Library

School Library Journal

2016-01-09
In another of her fairy-tale mashups, Shurtliff brings inventive new dimensions to Granny and Red, whom readers met in the companion book, Rump (2013). Granny, a witch, is none other than Rose Red, whose sister, Snow White, married a bear-prince. Red has powers, too, but she's been afraid to practice after a particularly disastrous spell almost killed Granny years ago. So when Granny becomes deathly ill, Red sets off to find the strongest magic: eternal life. Red's narration is dry and sassy, her mishaps colorful, her quest eventful and populated with other denizens of fairy-tale land. Accompanied by new friends Goldie and Wolf, Red follows directions provided by a disgruntled dwarf: there are three ways to stop death. What he fails to reveal are the pitfalls, allowing Red to debate the advisability of immortality as she witnesses the effects of each method. The most grotesque is The Magic Hearts, offered by the Huntsman—the same who saved the other Snow White (the one with the dwarfs) from her jealous stepmother and was cursed as a result. The adventures are thrilling, even frightening, and, while good and bad magic abound, what is most heartening is how Red and Goldie grow and brave it all together, selflessly helping each other. Fairy-tale fun with resonant depth makes for another solid outing. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews