“Grimm” is an understatement!  This extension of the traditional Hansel and Gretel story adds plenty of blood and gore to appeal to the middle readers.  Based loosely on the Grimms’ fairy tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The Seven Ravens, Brother and Sister, The Robber Bridegroom and The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs, this tale leads us up to and past Hansel and Gretel’s escape from the witch and takes us on eight other adventures until they return back to their parents.  The twins are often separated temporarily to double the adventure as they battle witches, the devil, and finally a dragon at the climax of the story.  The author has fun teasing the reader (“Go ahead, dear reader.  Take a look at the dragon on the cover of this book. That dragon, you see, was designed to alert you to the presence of a dragon in these pages.”) My hope is that I can convince boys to read a fairy tale, because they’re the ones that will enjoy the decapitations, the spillage of blood, and the cutting off of fingers!