Booker...
A friend of mine knew I loved retold fairy tales, so she recommended this book series to me. I am so glad she did; I LOVE these books!! I have only read the first two in this series. (Regina Doman has two other retold fairy tales, Midnight Dancers and Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves.)
Shadow of the Bear is a retelling of the Grimms' fairytale Snow White and Rose Red. In the Grimm tale, a widow and her two daughters are visited by a bear, who is actually a prince. In Regina Doman's retelling, Bear enters the lives of the Blanche, Rose, and their mother by accident, but soon becomes a regular visitor. Blanche is unsure of this possible drug dealer, but the girls enjoy their evenings discussing classic literature and poetry with Bear. But Blanche feels sure Bear has something black in his past. Shopping the thrift stores for a prom dress for Rose, the girls spy Bear with an expensive Chalice at an antique dealer. There investigation leads to a kidnappings and near death. Though things are not what they seemed, a prince may still hide under a Bear's skin.
In Black as Night, Bear has gone on a trip to Europe while Blanche is working as a hostess at a banquet hall to pay for nursing classes at the community college. Blanche has also been volunteering at the nursing home and visiting the sick and elderly. Blanche goes into hiding and her family finds out she has been accussed of embezalment and drug dealing. Bear wonders if people from his past have put Blanche in harms way, and if she is even still alive. We know Blanche is safe with seven friars. But Blanche isn't sharing any information with the friars, not even her real name. Blanche isn't sure if people are really out to get her or if she's going crazy. Can the seven friars keep her safe? Will her prince come through? Will she make it on her own?
Lots of thought provoking action and suspense await readers in both of these books. I thought the stories were excellent. These are teen level books. In Shadow of the Bear, Rose puts herself in a bad situation with a boy and has to escape out a bathroom window. The evening discussion of poetry may be a little hard to follow for younger readers. I thought it was refreshing and opened my eyes to some things I went and looked up to read. I am extremely eager to read the third book. Many characters in these books are Catholic; however, I don't think these books are exclusively for Catholics. There's no sermonizing or anything in the stories that would turn-off non-Catholics or even non-religous readers.
You can purchase this series for a discoutned price at http://www.fiatcatholicbooks.com/ There is also a link at the top of this website.
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