Grace Lin uses Chinese folklore as the basis for a wonderful children’s story about duty, responsibility, and fate that young readers will love. The Gate, The Girl, and The Dragon tells the story of Jin, a stone lion who resents his duty to humanity. Then he gets stuck in the human world. As he tries to find a way back home,
Read MoreMost people would say that Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is already a twisted tale. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, stumbles onto Christmas Town and decides to take it for his own. Christmas is almost ruined, but at the last second he finds the spirit of Christmas and Santa saves the day. But what if Jack Skellington isn’t the one who
Read MoreDisney continues its Twisted Tales series with its newest entry Princess of Thieves by Mari Mancusi. This time around it’s the classic story of Robin Hood that is getting a rewrite. This time around Robin is a bit of a coward. He’s hiding in Sherwood forest and is more concerned with himself than poor villagers being terrorized by the Sheriff and
Read MoreIt’s been raining for weeks. Bryncastell is so flooded that everything is shut down and people have just been stuck in their homes. With an energetic firefox, that isn’t easy. Charlie is doing his best to keep Cadno busy when something shocking happens, Cadno suddenly goes from being a firefox to being an electric fox! Charlie isn’t sure what caused this
Read MoreMerida is the brave Scottish princess who just wants to be in control of her own life in the Disney animated film Brave. But as a princess, she has almost no control. Her mother tells her what to wear, where to go, what to do, even when and who she’ll marry. Merida isn’t ready for marriage now, maybe not ever. Her
Read MoreAnother Twisted Tale that has so far only been released on the other side of the pond, Suddenly Super asks “What if Violet from The Incredibles became an Agent of Syndrome?”. Now before anyone starts freaking out too much, no, Violet doesn’t suddenly become evil. Instead, she’s a confused teen who gets manipulated by an evil man. What happens when an
Read MoreEveryone knows the story of King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and becoming king of all England. But what if Arthur was never meant to pull that sword from the stone? In Set in Stone, Mari Mancusi posits that Merlin’s rival, Madam Mim, set Arthur up. She thought he’d be easy to manipulate, leaving her to rule England through
Read MoreLee Newbery’s first book was about the last firefox so it only makes sense that his second book would be about the first shadowdragon. Once again, the citizens of Fargone need help, and they’re turning to Charlie the Great. However, Charlie isn’t feeling so great. Even though he managed to defeat the terrifying Grendilock, he’s still being bullied at school and
Read MoreHello, fellow bookworms. It’s hard to believe that 2023 is over already. There’ve been highs and lows but overall it was a really great year for books. I’ve read well over one hundred books this year, many of them reviewed right here on Cosmic Circus for your perusal. So whittling it down to my top 23 was hard, almost like picking
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