What if Brothers Grimm-style magic really existed? Polly Shulman, who took her inspiration from Jane Austen for her first novel, Enthusiasm, here plumbs the depths of the fairytales realm. One winter's day, on her way to Fisher High School, narrator Elizabeth Rew gives a homeless woman her sneakers and sets off a chain of page-turning events. First, Elizabeth's social studies teacher, Mr. Mauskopf, assigns a paper and asks his students to select from a list of topics that includes the Brothers Grimm--which Elizabeth chooses. After Elizabeth receives an A on the paper, Mr. Mauskopf recommends her for a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository, where she meets fellow pages Anjali Rao and Aaron Rosendorn--and becomes better acquainted with Fisher basketball star Marc Merritt. The pages' job is to retrieve material items requested by patrons, much like the books behind lock-and-key at the 42nd Street branch of the New York Public Library. Here, the objects are plates, spoons, rugs--or items from the repository's depths... such as magic carpets. Elizabeth learns of a giant bird that purportedly "follows some of the patrons and pages around," and the creature may be linked to the disappearance of objects from the Grimm Collection. Elizabeth must earn the trust of the librarians in order to gain entry into this top-secret section of the repository, and once she does, she learns that access and danger go hand in hand.
Shulman makes us privy to the delectable details of Grimm fairy tales, while adding her own fresh twist. Items like seven-league boots, the mirror that pronounces Snow White "the fairest of them all," and a seemingly benign mermaid's comb all play a role in helping the pages solve the mystery of the items that go missing, or that begin to lose their enchantment. Each teenaged page contributes his or her own talents--some have royal blood, while others' heightened senses help to detect the presence of magic (Elizabeth, for instance, can smell it)--or lack thereof. It's not necessary to be steeped in Grimm lore to follow along, though the adventures are more fun if you are. The teens' side trips to the Wells Bequest and the Gibson Chrestomathy reap other benefits for their investigation. And it wouldn't be a fairy tale without a romance (or two). A few red herrings keep readers on their toes, and a couple of loose ends (what happened to that elusive doll collector who got "lost" as a result of Anjali's magic fan?) leave room for further adventures at the New-York Circulating Material Repository.--Jennifer M. Brown