CINDER-ELLY

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Minters, Frances. 1994. Cinder-Elly. Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 0140561269.

PLOT SUMMARY
Cinder-Elly lives with her Mom, Dad and two sisters in New York City. Her sisters, Sue and Nelly are mean to El by making her serve iced tea and leaving her out when playing video games. One day, Cinder-Elly and her sisters, receive a note stating they won free tickets to a basketball game. They were so excited, but El couldn’t go because she had nothing to wear. Her mother only had money to buy clothes for her sisters. So after Sue and Nelly left for the game, Cinder-Elly’s godmother came to visit. She miraculously used her cane and “poof” gave her some new clothes along with some cool glass sneakers. At the game, El meets the pro basketball player Prince Charming. He asks her out for pizza but time runs out and she has to rush back home with her old clothes. After signing autographs, Prince tries to find El but instead finds a glass sneaker. He posts flyers all over the city in hopes that whoever owns the shoe will call him. Sue and Nelly call Prince and he comes over with the sneaker, but it doesn’t fit either of them. Cinder-Elly then tries it on and like the original version of the tale…“everyone lived forever happy.”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This modern Cinderella tale is set in present day New York City. Minters updates this version by including things like Cinder-Elly living with her Mom, Dad and real sisters. Instead of glass slippers she wears glass sneakers. She meets Prince Charming at a basketball game instead of a ball. Her godmother is her actual godmother that she hasn’t seen since she was about two years old. Minters uses a rhyming style to capture the attention of a young audience. “She worked so hard/It was a pity/She had no fun/In New York City.” Intermingled between the text, is drawings of little people making little comments throughout the story, such as “poor Cinder-Elly and “you look great, El!” Illustrator, Karas, accurately captures the urban setting with watercolor paintings. But in order to grab the reader’s attention, the illustrations could have been a little more colorful and livelier.

Even though readers will be able to identify and connect to the traditional Cinderella story, this version is a bit confusing. This is an adorable version of the original but it would have read better if the author would have concentrated more on the text instead of writing it in verse and having it rhyme. Nonetheless, this will be a good book for young readers to compare and contrast to other Cinderella stories.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
A Review from Publisher’s Weekly: “This ultracool version of the fairy tale, set in Manhattan, updates the classic with singular flair. Collages, wild patterns and funky fashions mimic music videos and build up the snazzy urban setting. An ideal match of artist and author.”

A Review from School Library Journal: "An annoying hodgepodge of stilted, cloying verse; a modern New York City setting; and traditional elements. But each of those elements is not quite what it should be. Flat, modern watercolors try their best to add to the hip feeling this story tries to portray, but they are often as cluttered as the text. A jumbled path that leads nowhere.”

CONNECTIONS
Students can use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Cinder-Elly and the traditional Cinderella story. They can compare and contrast story elements such as characters, plot, climax and ending.

Other Cinderella fractured fairy tales:
Cole, Babette. Prince Cinders. ISBN 0698115546
Jackson, Ellen. Cinder Edna. ISBN 0688162959
Johnston, Tony. Bigfoot Cinderrrrella. ISBN 0399230211
Lowell, Susan. Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella. ISBN 0064438643