142. Happily For Now

Happily for Now. Kelly Jones. Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. 2021. [May] 288 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: THINGS ARE A lot simpler in fairy tales. I mean, when you read about some girl going around covered in ashes who gets treated way worse than her stepsisters, it’s pretty clear somebody should get that girl some help. Then again, who knows what she thought when she woke up every morning? Maybe she thought, Well, things could be better, but they could be a lot worse, too. (Trust me, they could—and in lots of fairy tales they are. If you’ve ever read the original versions, you know they get gruesome fast.) Maybe she was glad her stepmother was bugging her stepsisters instead of her about what they wore or why they didn’t go out and find someone rich to marry. Maybe she was okay with doing her own thing.You get used to what’s normal for you.

Premise/plot: Fiona may not "want" to go stay with distant relations while her mother seeks treatment, but, sometimes you don't always get what you want, you get what you need. So Fiona finds herself heading to the farm to live with Great Aunt Alta, Aunt Becky, and Great Uncle Timothy. (Aunt Becky and Uncle Timothy manage the family's bakery.)

Fiona is a fairy god-person in training. (That's how she copes with what life throws at her.) And she's determined to be a fairy god-person in her new situation. She has a feeling that her relations definitely need some help and intervention....and it turns out they do. Now whether Fiona's wish-granting goes off according to anyone's plans...well...that's up for debate.

But life will never be the same after Fiona comes to town.

My thoughts: I really LOVED this one. I thought it was a great read. I enjoyed the characterization so much. I loved meeting the extended family--flaws and all. I loved getting to know all the people in the community. When well done--like this one is--a wide cast of characters is such a delight.

Quotes:

I thought about the questions Ms. Davis and I liked to talk about, and picked a good one. “What’s your favorite kind of cookie?”

See, a question like that seems like no big deal, so it doesn’t make you nervous. You can’t get it wrong. But cookies can tell you a lot about a person. For instance, my favorites are oatmeal with chocolate chips. Ms. Davis says they’re a lot like me: you might not notice right away that they’re something special, but once you do, you’ll never make that mistake again. Ms. Davis’s favorites are these spicy molasses cookies she makes. She says they’re just like her: they keep getting better with age, and people always remember them. Great-Uncle Timothy didn’t say anything. Maybe he needed to think about it, or maybe he was still feeling shy around me. Or maybe he just didn’t like to talk that much.

FAIRY-GODPERSON TRAINING: LESSON 1

Find someone who seems unhappy.

Observe what’s really going on.

Encourage them to make one small change.

FAIRY-GODPERSON TRAINING: LESSON 2

Find a situation you don’t feel good about.

Discover your truth—what you really think, not what someone else thinks you should think.

Speak your truth. You might tell it to the person in the situation. Or you might find someone else to tell—someone you trust who might be able to help. Or someone you could ask for advice.

Observe what happens when you wield the power of your truth. It might not be what you think will happen. But you can still learn something from it.

 

FAIRY-GODPERSON TRAINING: LESSON 3

Figure out something you want to do. Something for you, not for anybody else.

Make a plan to help yourself do it. Tell a buddy or a helper about your plan. Ask them to cheer you on and keep you accountable, so you’ll actually do it. It’s easy to shove your own plan aside to help someone else if no one’s there to remind you.

Put your plan into action. Think about what works, and what could work better. What’s harder than you expected? What’s easier?

You can use what you learn when you help others. Where do you think that person might get stuck? Maybe someone could cheer them on, too.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers