Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

This book is quickly becoming one of my new favorites. Even with all of the demands I've had on my reading time, I have actually read it twice!! It is one of the fastest reads I've had this semester, and the story is absolutely breathtaking in both beauty and engagement. It is set in a fairy tale land where giants have cows as big as houses and fairies grant boons both for good and for bad. Despite the fairy tale aspects of the story the actual story line is amazing and gripping, and I know that had I discovered it when I was younger I would have been just as in love with it as I am today.

I love when I stumble upon books that I could use as part of a unit (as I've said before) and this book actually gave me an idea for a whole NEW unit that I hadn't even thought about before: One on fairy tales both old and new. I think that such books are engaging for reluctant readers due to their supernatural and scifi appeal and also engaging for more advanced students for the lessons and underlying motifs that are inherent in any fairy tale.

I would absolutely teach this book and recommend it. I feel that male students may not be as engaged by the book, but I feel that if it were part of a unit in which I also included male heroes than male students may not be so reluctant to read it. I would also probably try to select an edition of the book that doesn't have a huge picture of Ella on the front, if that would be possible, to further engage male students. This is another issue that I had never thought of before, and I am glad that it came up with the reading of this book. I will have to look into whether or not it is possible to get back-prints of a novel or even to special order books with simpler covers. If this IS possible I would also make students aware of the actual cover of the book and have one on hand so that they could look at it and appreciate it.

I heard that the movie for this book was terrible when I asked around, and I will not see it, nor will I include it in my lesson plans. Although the concept of watching bits of a bad book movie could make for an intriguing lesson, this book is too magical and incredible to me for me to throw it under the bus by exposing students to a crappy movie based on it.