The Sisters Grimm Book Five: Magic and Other Misdemeanors

Buckley, Michael. The Sisters Grimm Book Five: Magic and Other Misdemeanors. Amulet Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8109-9358-7

Plot

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are detectives again as magical items go missing in their hometown of Ferryport Landing. The story begins with the girls facing a session of escape training. They go through the magic mirror into the Hall of Wonders, then out a door into the frozen homeland of Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen. There they are chased by Puck who is armed with glop grenades. The girls use their wits to escape and hit Puck with his own weapon. Everafters are invited to Granny Relda's home to brainstorm ways to release Sabrina and Daphne's parents from the sleeping spell. Nobody has an answer. The party breaks up, but later that night Baba Yaga returns and accuses Sabrina of stealing the Wand of Merlin from her. Soon other Everafters report missing magic items. Mayor Heart has increased taxes on humans' homes and property, so Granny Relda must raise huge amounts of money or be thrown out of town by Sheriff Nottingham. Sabrina and Daphne find themselves thrown into the future when a tear in time appears in the forest near their home. They meet themselves as adults and realize that their future is not a good one because Everafters have plundered the Hall of Wonders and are battling against humans. They also meet the former Mayor Charming, and he agrees to return with them to the present to try to stop this future from becoming reality. Another large tear in time allows the ship New Beginning to appear in the Hudson River at Ferryport Landing. The boat carried the original Everafter settlers and Wilhelm Grimm from Europe. Sabrina, Daphne, and their Uncle Jake must find a way to send Wilhelm and the Everafters back in time before Sheriff Nottingham and Mayor Heart can kill him and end the Grimm's family line at its beginning.

Critical Evaluation

The story is another roller coaster ride from Michael Buckley. Favorite characters Sabrina, Daphne, Puck, Granny Relda, Mr. Canis, and Mirror investigate mysteries and try to keep order in Ferryport Landing. The element of time travel adds a new dimension to the story. Puck and Sabrina's future friendship is revealed, heightening the drama between these characters.

Annotations

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm must save themselves and their family from destruction yet again as Mayor Heart seeks to drive them from Ferryport Landing with exorbitant taxes. At the same time, magical objects are stolen from Everafters and tears in time appear in Ferryport Landing. Sabrina and Daphne must find the thief and stop the tears in time from appearing before it is too late.

Author

Michael Buckley has written eight novels in this series. He recently published the first book in a new series, NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society.

Genre

Fiction – fairy tales and mystery.

Curriculum Ties

Language arts – fairy tale stories and characters, elements of a mystery story.

Booktalk Ideas

Review favorite fairy tale characters with listeners. Ask listeners to describe their favorite fairy tales. Introduce Sabrina and Daphne and their situation as orphans newly arrived in Ferryport Landing. Read the first few pages with the group.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 (age 9) and up.

Challenge Issues and Defense

Children in peril and magic.

The fairy tale characters are easily recognizable which sets this story clearly in the realm of fiction.

Why is it here?

I used book one in the series as an on-going read aloud with a fourth grade class. They loved it.