Gregory Maguire
As Gregory Maguire began to speak to the gathering of The Children's Book Guild of Washington DC, it became obvious that he is a gifted lecturer as well as a talented author. His way with words leaves no doubt that the fame he garnered for Wicked was well deserved. His wry sense of humor was directed toward himself as well as the world. While his astute sense of observation has helped him develop the unique style that has made his work so compelling, it is the philosophical questions of life that has driven his writing.
Raised in England, he grew up in a family of readers and writers for whom the written word was extremely important. His parents were both teachers and writers who influenced his development by introducing him to many great authors (and limiting the entire family's television viewing).
As a listener I kept wondering if he would be the reader for his own books in the future. His characters came to life as he read some passages from a couple of his books, including some pages from Son of a Witch, which will be released in October 2005. He transformed himself into the very essence of each character and his emphasis was perfect to convey the emotions and mood of each scene.
During his speech he revealed his deep rooted questioning of life and the values portrayed in a variety of media, including books and movies. This questioning led him to ponder the relationship between responsible people and their response to authority in a multitude of settings. Much of his personal theorizing was stimulated by early viewings of the movie The Wizard of Oz...and we can all see where that led him.
He expressed delight that his love of literature and interest in childhood's stories and fairy tales has fueled a life time of writing influenced by those very things that captivated his own interest as a child. He is never very far from that rich resource of early exposure to wonderful books. He is already sharing that very same love of books with his own children and we look forward to many more of his books to share with other children.
After eighteen seasons organizing and presenting "Children's Literature New England," Mr. McGuire will close the conference after the 20th meeting. The work load is prohibitive and he wants to be able to spend more time with his children. We hope it will also mean that he will have more time to devote to writing. We do know that he has already influenced a great many others who may be inspired to become writers or will be sharing literature with students and children.
When someone asked him how it felt to have his novel turned into a highly successful Broadway play, he replied "Fabulous!"-the perfect word to describe Gregory Maguire himself!
Reviews of some of Gregory Maguire's works follow. For more information visit his web site: www.gregorymaguire.com.
Reviews
Confessions of an Ugly StepsisterGregory Maguire
Illustrations by Bill Sanderson
Maguire sets his novel-length retelling of "Cinderella" in 17th-century Holland, during the "tulip madness" that swept the country. Indeed, the tulip bulb is a recurring image and metaphor: a strange, ugly, bumpy thing capable of producing great beauty. The ugly stepsisters in this tale are Iris and Ruth, who have fled England with their mother, Margarethe, escaping the mob that killed their father. They are plain at best, and Ruth is physically and mentally handicapped, a condition that seems to inspire more derision than compassion from the people of Haarlem. Originally from Haarlem, Margarethe finds no shelter there since her family is long dead, but she bullies her way first into the household of a painter, Master Schoonmaker, and later into that of a tulip merchant and his lovely, reclusive daughter Clara. The narrative is enthralling, an original story that uses the folktale root as an accent that shapes but does not define the story. The characters are vividly drawn; the handful of woodcut-like illustrations by Bill Sanderson accent the story without intruding on the reader's imagination. Maguire's novel is one of the best and more sophisticated retellings around. Fans of mythic fiction will especially enjoy it. KLIATT Codes: SA*--Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, HarperCollins/Regan, 372p, illus, 24cm, $15.00. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Donna L. Scanlon (KLIATT Review, March 2001 (Vol. 35, No. 2)).
Best Books:
Recommended Literature: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, 2002; California Department of Education; California
ISBN: 0-06-039282-7
ISBN: 0-06-098752-9
A Couple of April Fools
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Elaine Clayton
Librarians will be kept hopping when many students want to read this book at the same time. Maguire's zany humor and ability to create pictures with words are a couple of good reasons to expect heavy library traffic. The plot centers on April Fool's Day jokes concocted by the boys in Miss Earth's class, as well as jokes brewed up by the girls. Most of the boys in the class belong to a club known as the Copycats. The girls have their own club known as the Tattletales. Real life middle readers will easily relate to this. For added interest, Thud Tweed, a new member of the class, does not always follow the lines of demarcation between boys and girls. Also, Thekla Mustard, Empress of the Tattletales for years, is ousted from her position. In an attempt to stop the pitting of boys against girls, Miss Earth does the unthinkable when she requires science fair projects to be completed by boy and girl pairings of her own. Flameburpers, creatures that are part chicken and part lizard, and an ape-like monster twist in and out of the hilarious plot. Names of characters are worth a good laugh. Maguire exhibits a gift for understanding the worries and actions of this age group. Even with the hilarity, he is able to address some of the more serious adolescent concerns. This is the sixth book in Maguire's "Hamlet Chronicles" series. A school library will do well to bring in the whole set. 2004, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin, $16.00. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Nancy Garhan Attebury (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-618-27474-X
Crabby Cratchitt
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Andrew Glas
Here is a delightful variation on the familiar nursery song, "Old McDonald had a Farm." This time, the farmer's name is Crabby Cratchitt. Crabby's hen not only goes 'cluck-cluck' here, there and everywhere--the noisy hen clucks night and day! Poor farmer Cratchitt can't catch the hen OR a few winks...it's no wonder she is crabby! This lively, picture book is the perfect read-aloud. It uses a familiar rhythm as a base for its clever, new rhymes and sly humor. The eye-popping, full color illustrations bounce across the pages and add modern, funny twists to the text's down-home charm. Young readers will love the surprise ending to this story of a unique friendship. 2000, Clarion Books, $15.00. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Reviewer: Dianne Ochiltree (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-395-60485-0
The Dream Stealer
Gregory Maguire
A witch living in a house that moves and thinks, an evil wolf and a firebird. These wonderful characters from famous and popular Russian folk tales are brought together in one book in The Dream Stealer. We follow the extraordinary adventures of Pasha and Lisette as they try to protect their village and the people who live in it from their foe, the Blood Prince. The Blood Prince is an evil and very powerful wolf who must be defeated if the village is to be saved. We meet the colorful characters who live in the village and, who more often than not, get in Pasha and Lisette's way as they try to do what is right. There is Old Sophia, grandfather Ivan, Father Dimitri and Old Milkface the cow. There is also Baba Yaga, the witch, feared by all and yet the only one who can answer some of the questions everyone wants the answer to. What do their dreams mean? What can be done to free the village from the dominion of the Blood Prince? This unique book has beautiful black on white cut-paper silhouettes decorating some of its pages. It is fascinating, sometimes frightening, and often funny to follow in the footsteps of the two children. Through the story we learn about the strange folktales that used to influence the lives of a culture so different from our own. 2002 (orig. 1983), Clarion Books, $15.00. Ages 8 to 11. Reviewer: Marya Jansen-Gruber (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-618-18188-1
Five Alien Elves
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Elaine Clayton
Twas the night before Christmas, and the spaceship Loiterbug, carrying five aliens from the planet Fixipuddle, has crash-landed behind a barn in the small town of Hamlet, Vermont. The Fixipuddlings, having misinterpreted an Earthling Christmas movie picked up by their scan-o-matic, disguise themselves as elves and set out to save Earth from the evil dictator Santa Claws ("He knows when they're sleeping! He knows when they're awake!"). When they meet Mayor Grass, who is dressed as the jolly old elf, they kidnap him in the name of all that is just. The whole town goes into panic, but, as in the author previous Hamlet books, Miss Earth's elementary school class saves the day. The children are a delightfully wacky bunch, from Lois Kennedy the Third, who is determined to get herself elected "Empress" of her club, the Tattletales, to Sammy Grubb, who believes wholeheartedly in Bigfoot. The sharp writing provides comic twists at every turn, and Maguire never misses a beat. Fans of the earlier books will gobble up this installment, and new readers will be drawn to the sheer kookiness of it all. Recommend this book to readers who can't get enough of Louis Sachar's "Wayside School" series. 1998, Clarion, $15.00. Ages 8 to 13.Reviewer: Reviewer: Kathleen Kelly (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 1999; Bank Street College of Education; United States
ISBN: 0-395-83894-0
Four Stupid Cupids
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Elaine Clayton
The cupids in question are sealed inside an antique Greek amphora that was sent to Fawn Petros in Hamlet, Vermont. Fawn brings it to school for show-and-tell, and the adventure begins. The vase is accidentally broken while the teacher, Miss Earth, is out of the room. Four tiny cupids fly out! They quickly prove that "cupids are smart," even very young ones, and they learn basic English very quickly. Their leader, Rhoda, was babysitting the others--twins, Milos and Naxos, and their little brother Kos. They were enchanted into the vase when the twins tried to make a witch fall in love with a herd of goats. When did all this happen? "A week ago my own mother shot an arrow at Alexander the Great," says Rhoda. The class (probably fourth grade) ultimately decides that the cupids should try to help Miss Earth fall in love, and they (the class) will help the cupids get back home to Greece. The story isn't brilliant, but the portraits of the children are terrific. Feuds between the boys' and girls' clubs (Copycats and Tattletales) bring such realistic dialogue that it sounds as if a tape recorder was turned on in the classroom and left on for a month. No matter how fondly (or not) you remember Valentine's Day, the disastrous events in Miss Earth's class will bring it all back to you. Descriptions of adult business, from Mrs. Petros' hair salon to Principal Hetty Buttle's box of chocolates to Mayor Grass's taste in reading, are all described as children would. Secondary stories take the spotlight occasionally, but the main one is always there--will the class discover the way to send the cupids back to Greece? A totally fun read. 2000, Clarion, $15.00. Ages 8 to 13. Reviewer: Judy Silverman (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-395-83895-9
The Good Liar
Gregory Maguire
Three brothers living in a small town in France during World War Two think that their idyllic lives will last forever. Their family is Catholic, after all. But the coming of Nazi soldiers changes all that. The youngest of the brothers, Marcel, eight years old when the book begins, is the narrator of this story that would be charming if it weren't about this terrible time. Marcel doesn't really understand why the rabbi and his entire congregation have disappeared, and he certainly doesn't understand why Miriam Cauverian and her mother have come to their house to stay. And why they suddenly disappear, too. The book is written as if it were an answer to a child's request for information from "someone old," for a school assignment. That makes the story more real, and moves it along quickly. 1999, Clarion Books, $15.00. Ages 11 to 15. Reviewer: Judy Silverman (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2000; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Best of the Bunch, 1999; Association of Jewish Librarians; United States
Booklist Book Review Stars, April 15, 1999; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001; H.W. Wilson; United States
Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 1999; American Library Association-Booklist; United States
Middle And Junior High School Library Catalog, Eighth Edition, 2000; H.W. Wilson; United States
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2000; National Council for the Social Studies NCSS; United States
Recommended Literature: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, 2002; California Department of Education; California
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Georgia Children's Literature Awards, 2001-2002; Nominee; Children's; Georgia
ISBN: 0-395-90697-0
Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Chris L. Demarest
What would happen if the brothers Grimm had substituted animals for the main characters in their stories? Maguire takes this idea and successfully alters eight well-known fairy tales to feature animal protagonists. Sleeping Beauty is now a frog, Cinderella is a large elephant, and Snow White is an athletic gorilla. Maguire maintains the integrity of each story, but he adds a modern twist by using young adult slang and imaginative words thrown into the dialogue. Demarest's illustrations add to the humor in the stories. Maguire frequently uses fairy tales as the basis of his books, including Wicked (HarperCollins, 1995/VOYA April 1996), Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999), and the more recent Mirror Mirror (2003), but he twists and turns the stories to fit his ideas. Young adult readers, who enjoy fairy tales but are not familiar with his other books, might want to give this one a try. It gives a taste of what to expect in his other titles and is a good, light read that can be finished in one sitting. Both public and school libraries will want to add it to their collections. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, HarperCollins, 197p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 18. Reviewer: Jonatha Masters (VOYA, February 2005 (Vol. 27, No. 6)).
Best Books:
Kirkus Book Review Stars, July 1, 2004; United States
ISBN: 0-06-056417-2
ISBN: 0-06-056418-0
Lost
Gregory Maguire
Author of interpretations of the Cinderella story in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Regan Books, 1999) and the Wizard of Oz in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (HarperCollins, 1996), Maguire takes elements of Jack the Ripper, A Christmas Carol, and Peter Pan, and touches of Alice in Wonderland and Dracula to deftly create a modern ghost story that readily allows the reader to suspend any disbelief of a ghost locked up in the wall of a London apartment. This long-ago residence of Ozias Rudge, the supposed real Ebenezer Scrooge who told his ghost story to young Dickens, is an appropriate setting for a modern tale of suspense and supernatural horror. When Winnie, a disillusioned middle-aged writer, releases the ghost of Gervasa, a young, condemned thirteenth-century French woman grieving for her unborn child, the story becomes deliciously suspenseful. The reader wants to discover what happened to the infant and whether Gervasa convinces Winnie to relinquish her body. After all, in Gervasa's opinion, Winnie really is not alive anyway. Maguire convincingly wraps up the tale, allowing Winnie a chance at another life and the ghost a chance to enter the afterlife, knowing her infant survived her death by burning. With almost three hundred Amazon.com reader reviews for Wicked certainly indicating a wide readership, Maguire's Lost will delight his followers as well as expand his readership. Reading this book might even cause young adults to explore the many classics Maguire refers to, which most certainly will delight high school English teachers. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2001, Regan/HarperCollins, 339p, $26. Ages 15 to Adult. Reviewer: Ruth E. Cox (VOYA, February 2002 (Vol. 24, No. 6)).
ISBN: 0-06-039382-3
Oasis
Gregory Maguire
Oasis is a complex tale of love, loss, grief, and acceptance. Thirteen-year-old Mohandas (Hand) Gunther returns home from school one day to find his father dead. His mother returns from a three-year absence to care for him. Hand struggles to make sense of his relationship with her even as he is coming to terms with his feelings about the loss of his father. The novel has a well-formed cast of support characters, from the mysterious Uncle Wolfgang to Nur Ziba and his five-year-old son, Vuffy. Selections from Emily Dickinson are a fine complement to the story, and Maguire's own skill keeps the story from being overwhelmingly bleak. 1998, Hyperion, $4.95. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-7868-1293-1
Six Haunted Hairdos
Gregory Maguire
Illustrations by Elaine Clayton
In this hilarious and pun-filled sequel to Seven Spiders Spinning, Maguire revisits Josiah Moffett Elementary School, where the girls' club, the Tattletales, wants to pull one over on the boys' club, the Copycats. When the boys talk about ghosts, the girls disguise themselves as spooks. But when all is said and done, it appears there really IS a ghost, or maybe more than one, and the kids have to work together to send these shades to rest. Maguire has created memorable characters, including Grandma Earth, who runs Grandma's Baked Goods and Auto Repair Shop, and Thekla Mustard, the charismatic Tattletale leader who is, perhaps a little too big for her britches. The writing is a howl, even if you don't believe in ghosts, and the book is a great way to get elementary boys and girls all on the same page, so to speak. 1997, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin, $15.00. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Donna Freedman (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 1998; Bank Street College of Education; United States
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 1999; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Best of the Bunch, 1998; Association of Jewish Librarians; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001; H.W. Wilson; United States
The Children's Literature Choice List, 1999; Children's Literature; United States
Fanfare Honor List, 1998; Horn Book; United States
Middle And Junior High School Library Catalog, Eighth Edition, 2000; H.W. Wilson; United States
ISBN: 0-395-78626-6
ISBN: 0-395-74654-X
Three Rotten Eggs
Gregory Maguire
Illustrated by Elaine Clayton
The fifth book in Maguire's "Hamlet" series features three genetically altered chickens, a new bully in town, an ongoing rivalry between the boys and the girls in Miss Earth's class, and a lot of laughs. It all starts when Professor Wolfgang Einfinger gets pulled over for speeding, claiming his briefcase has been stolen by a motorcyclist and the security of the nation is dependent on catching the thief. These eggs, part of a plot by the corporation Geneworks to reverse evolution, are thought destroyed when a bolt of lightning strikes the motorcycle. Three self-declared class outsiders find the eggs during a school charity egg hunt and decide to hatch them. Bully Thud Tweed, wannabe leader Lois Kennedy the Third, and immigrant Salim Bannerjee get more than they bargained for when the eggs hatch and the chickens start breathing fire. Miss Earth's class conspires to hide the truth when Professor Einfinger comes back to town to recover the chicks. Three Rotten Eggs reads like a combination of Shakespeare and Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories from Wayside School. The residents of Hamlet, Vermont, are ridiculous yet loveable, and adults will enjoy the puns Maguire uses in his characters' names. Through humor, Maguire brings about important lessons like nature versus nurture, honesty among friends, and getting what one deserves. 2002, Clarion Books, $16.00. Ages 8 to 11. Reviewer: Carlie Kraft (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2003; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, Supplement, 2003; H.W. Wilson; United States
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Great Stone Face Award, 2003-2004; Nominee; New Hampshire
ISBN: 0-618-09655-8
Added 05/31/05
To stay up to date on new books by this author, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.