Princesses and Wizards (Lite): Vivian Vande Velde's Twisted Fairy Tales

For those readers who can't get enough of the fractured fairy tales genre, Vivian Vande Velde has penned a collection of not only fractured, but virtually totalled tales in her Wizard at Work. Hexed by a terminally grouchy witch at the garden shop, a young wizard fills his summer break with a couple of sulky princesses, gangsta unicorns, a sloshed ghost, and in the best and last of the stories, one reluctant princess who turns out to be his soul mate.

If Vande Velde's off-beat style hits the spot, try her well-received Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird, The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, or A Hidden Magic, These twists on traditional fairy tales are just plain fun for the middle reader.

If readers are willing to take the short step over to science fiction, take a look at Vande Velde's Smart Dog, in which a talking dog seeks the help of a dorky fifth-grader in escaping a role as the final specimen in the government's brain experiment.

Vande Velde's fast-paced, wiseguy dialog has a cool appeal for the Grade 5-9 crowd, and her offbeat fantasies retain an edgy sophistication that is never cloying.