Essays & Articles

You wanna know about my new book, THE GRIMM CONCLUSION (Due in October, 2013)? Read this! And to see the cover, click on the link at the bottom of the page!
 
Fairy tale adaptations are replete in pop culture, but how about straight retellings of the Brothers Grimm iconic stories in all their original bloodiness? Since 2010, Adam Gidwitz has reintroduced young readers to the Grimm canon with his unapologetically dark and utterly hilarious books “A Tale Dark and Grimm” and “In a Glass Grimmly.” Bookish has the first look at the cover for the final book in the trilogy, “The Grimm Conclusion”:
 
Each book focuses on two youngsters scrambling to get away from fairy tale monsters: First it was Hansel and Gretel, then Jack and Jill. Naturally we had to know who the protagonists of this final book would be! Here’s the inside scoop from Gidwitz on what readers can expect in the new book, which comes out October 8, 2013:
 
“Before I give away any plot points from ‘The Grimm Conclusion,’ allow me to bore you with a single paragraph about the oral tradition, and how it relates to my work. (Skipping to paragraph three is allowed.)
 
Fairy tales were born from the oral traditions of Europe. These days, we don’t have much truck with oral tradition. We watch Netflix and go to the movies instead of sitting around a hearth and letting Crazy Aunt Hilde scare the bejeezus out of us. But anyone who’s heard a tale told really well–around the campfire, perhaps, or before bed–knows that the thrill is incomparable. A good storyteller can take us to a world so vivid it’s frightening, and yet reassure us with her voice that we’re still safe at home. My goal in writing these books is to meld the thrill of the oral tradition with the extended journey of the novel.
 
And now you want some spoilers, huh? The main characters of ‘The Grimm Conclusion’ are called Jorinda (say: YOUR-INDA) and Joringel (say: YOUR-INGLE). (Yeah, German is weird.) They are based, very loosely, on characters from the Grimm tale of the same name. Jorinda and Joringel have perhaps the most harrowing journey of any of my Grimm protagonists.
 
They inadvertently kill their father in the first chapter. Then Joringel dies. (Don’t worry, he comes back to life.) Later, Jorinda dies. (She may or may not come back to life.) Then they both go to Hell. It’s really an adventure for the whole family.
 
What differentiates ‘The Grimm Conclusion’ from my first two books is that, since it’s the capstone of the series, I’m trying not only to tell a ripping yarn and hash out emotional truths, but also to talk about why I wrote these books in the first place. Yes, one theme of ‘The Grimm Conclusion’ is its own reason for being. Very metafictional, no? Like I said–something for everyone!
 
And in case all the death and metafictional elements put you off, ‘The Grimm Conclusion’ is perhaps the funniest book I have ever written. At least, I think so. But of course, I find both metafiction and death pretty funny.”
 
Adam Gidwitz was a teacher for eight years. Now, he writes full time, which means he writes a couple of hours a day and lies on his couch staring at the ceiling the rest of the time. He lives with his wife in Brooklyn. He is the award-winning author of “New York Times” bestsellers “A Tale Dark and Grimm” and “In a Glass Grimmly.” Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamGidwitz.
 
http://www.bookish.com/articles/cover-reveal-adam-gidwitzs-the-grimm-conclusion