Trollbridge - Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple
Teller, teller, tell me a tale, Of love and fear and duty, I want to die in the arms of love, I want to die for beauty. For beauty is the only truth, And death the only lie, I want to sing a final tale, And love before I die.
Jane Yolen is a very prolific author, but mostly what I know about her is that she's done various folklore-related books. This one, found in the library, is the second in a "Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale" series written with her son, who is (according to liner notes) a real rock-and-roller.
The plot is a mash-up of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "The Billy Goats Gruff," with a bridge, a troll, and a strange fox-man named Fossegrim thrown in for good measure. The modern-day setting changes the dancing princesses to Minnesota's Dairy Princesses; in this story, the butter sculptures of the princesses are left each year on a bridge in the small town of Vanderby, but nobody really knows why. This year, however, there's a new mayor who doesn't want butter running off into his fishing lake, so the butter sculptures aren't there.
Then, of course, weird things start happening. The twelve girls end up captured by a troll, fated to be brides for his sons. The Griffson brothers, a pop sensation, also end up in Trollholm, and with the somewhat iffy help of Fossegrim, come up with a plan to free themselves and the girls. Interspersed throughout the chapters are excerpts from the Griffson Brothers' songs, as well as snippets of a morning radio show in which the mysterious disappearances are discussed.
It's a fun, short book and kind of clever: a good filler between meatier books.
Fed to jonathan's brain | August 13, 2008
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