Did you ever think Dorothy was a little too sweet and a little too good? Do you fondly remember wanting to be the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween? Want something twisted and spooky this month? Then this is the book for you! Turning the world of Oz upside down and inside out, author Danielle Paige creates a dark and twisted tale of teenage self-discovery where the wicked witch might just be the hero.
In this edgy update of Frank L. Baum’s Wizard of Oz, Kansas teen Amy Gumm gets sucked into a complex assassination plot to dethrone the megalomaniac and magic addict Dorothy. Oz is no longer the cheerful Technicolor world made popular by the Judy Garland—starring film, and it has been drained of its fairy-tale glimmer by the red shoe—wearing despot and her crew of twisted friends. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, Glinda, and the Lion all make horrific appearances, and characters from Baum’s original are also highlighted in this grim and gory take.
Roles are reversed as good and evil witches band together in the revolutionary group of the Wicked to train Amy to kill Dorothy. Plot twists will keep readers guessing, and Amy’s affinity to her pet mouse Star will garner some chuckles. Give this cinematic upper-YA novel to fans of A. G. Howard’s Splintered (Abrams, 2012), Frank Beddor’s Looking Glass Wars (Dial, 2006), and TV shows such as Once Upon a Time and Grimm.—Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal
Dorothy Must Die
D.M. Paige
Published April 2014 by Harper Collins
