A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

There's a tropical storm starting to come through New Orleans and it's stormy and windy. And I just finished my first RIP read, A Tale Dark and Grimm. Seriously...could the first book of RIP HAVE a better title? I think not. And it was perfectly creepy...the kind of book that brought me back to those eerie childhood October days that I loved so very much. When I made tissue ghosts with my sister and decorated our house in black and orange crepe paper. No, this is not specifically a Halloween story, but it has that wonderful feel to it. And how could it fail? It took the stories of the Brothers Grimm and manipulated them into one fantastic tale. Specifically it tells the story of Hansel and Gretel. But it tells it like you've never heard it before. Yes, there's the story of the old witch and the oven, but Gidwitz continues Hansel and Gretel's tale by placing them in other Grimm tales making it one complete story. What I loved about this, is that it's obviously a book written for children, but he doesn't disrespect children and pain the "new versions" of the Grimm tales. Instead, he tells them as they were originally written with all of the horrible things that happen...because sometimes horrible things happen in life. And he guides you along the way by stepping out of the story occasionally and offering his own commentary and his own thoughts on what's to come. While it is indeed a spooky read, it's also fun. He throws in lots of adventure and horror and quite a bit of humor along the way too. And I must say that Gidwitz told a story that just made me all warm and fuzzy inside (what does that say about me? :p) with the excitement of fall upon us.