The Wizard, the Witch, & Two Girls From Jersey

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Category: Humor, Adventure, Fantasy

Ages: 10-up

When a pricing wand misfires, it sends Straight-A-Student Veronica and Jersey-Girl-Glamazon Heather straight into Chapter Two of the classic fantasy novel, The Queen of Twilight. With shades of Narnia, Middle Earth, Hogwarts, Earthsea, and more, The Queen of Twilight is a book with something for all fantasy fans to love—including a magical land that has been shrouded in darkness for years by an evil queen.

Heather and Veronica accidentally kill the book’s heroine, and from then on, they have to work together to find their way back to the real world. With only an elf-bakery reject, a talking squirrel, and a wizard with no magic to help, they’ll have to battle trolls, Ookies, giant insects, flying gargoyles, treacherous terrain, and ruined manicures to make it to their happy ending…

From Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. R.

Ever since Peter Jackson combined hobbits with hotties on the big screen, it was inevitable that we’d see a collision wherein chick lit meets epic fantasy, and here it is. Veronica, a bookish Latina, and Heather, a Jersey girl par excellence who didn’t know that her favorite coffee bar was even in a bookstore, tussle over the last copy of a fictional fantasy classic on the eve of an English paper due date and get zapped by an errant scanner into the second chapter of the book. They accidentally kill the princess heroine, and Heather is mistaken for her by a wizard, while Veronica, due to an unfortunate rip in the last letter of her Vassar sweatshirt, is mistaken for her servant. Thus this light-hearted, action-packed parody begins. The girls encounter all of the stock events of the hero quest—the assembly of a stalwart company, fights with hags and giant spiders, treacherous terrain, kidnapping by soulless henchmen riding leathery-winged avians, etc.—with Veronica reminding readers of numerous intertextual references along the way and trying desperately to get them back on plot. Papademetriou steps on all toes equally here; her send-up is funny enough to have both fantasy fans and mall-obsessed girls laughing at their own pretensions. Many of the jokes are suitably corny (Kiblar elves, for instance, whose specialty is tree-baked cookies) and accessible for those who haven’t read every fantasy referent, so that the Heathers can have as much fun as the Veronicas. The plot zips along from one near-fatal encounter to the next, but not at the expense of character development; both Veronica and Heather are given sensitively constructed backstories that make them likable and provide credible motivation for their actions and decisions. Give this to folks who like the movie of Ella Enchanted better than the book. (Karen Coates)

From Publisher’s Weekly Web-Exclusive Reviews

Papademetriou (M or F? with Chris Tebbetts) sends up both teen chick lit and high fantasy in this comical page-turner. Bookish Veronica Lopez and vapid Heather Simms clash over the bookstore's last copy of an assigned novel, Queen of Twilight. Veronica's read it, but needs a new copy for reference; Heather needs it to pass. When the clerk's scanner misfires, the tussling girls literally tumble into the novel. Heather promptly, mistakenly dispatches Twilight's heroine, Princess Arabella, and the girls decide that their only hope of returning home rests with Heather assuming the Princess's role—she must free the peoples of Galma from the evil Queen's dominion. Papademetriou dabbles mischievously with stock fantasy characters and plotting. Other supporting characters joining the company: Strathorn, a Gandalfian wizard bent on restoring powers diminished by the Queen's stranglehold; Chattergee, a randy squirrel with an enlarged ego and a yen for Veronica; and Doggett, a stalwart "Kiblar" elf (who, lacking his clan's baking prowess, loyally serves Strathorn and Heather). These plus the Queen and her evil sisters, soldiering shrubberies, haughty but helpful Sylvan elves and more, jockey for readers' bemused attention as the company goes from one confrontation to another. Well-read Veronica namedrops furiously: Tolkien, Narnia and Redwall crop up as she (having read Twilight) helps Heather navigate the complex plot. And readers will appreciate watching shallow Heather grow up and into her role as "The One." Enjoyable as both spoof and tribute.

I just wanted to tell you how much I love your book, The Wizard, The Witch, and Two Girls From Jersey. It's one of if not my favorite book of all time! My sister read Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon and loved it! I can't wait to read the next one!!!! (E.S.)

Hi! I just finished reading The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey and loved it!!! I thought it was pretty funny and I really liked the references to other fantasy books that Veronica keeps having (like when Strathorn dies, she thinks of all the other books important characters have died/come back in). Just wanted to let you know that I thought it was great! I love fantasy books (I've read all the Harry Potter books a gazillion times and all the Lord of the Rings and Narnia books plus a few others that I just can't think of because I'm still a little too obsessed with LOTR), and thought this was pretty funny. If I have to do a book report in school, I would love to do this book. I also think it would make a great movie.

Anyway, I hope you come out with another book because I'd love reading it!

(Oh, yeah, I'm from NJ and I know kids just like Veronica and Heather! lol)
(C.B.)

I bought this novel based on a highly positive review posted at Intergalactic Medicine Show. What a wonderful, wonderful book! Neither merely a silly spoof, nor a too reverent homage. The girls seemed fully-dimensional and real in all the ways that mattered. Likewise, Galma and its fantastical inhabitants were entertaining, hilarious...and even moving. Often, the best parodies are those that are also a darn good example of the genre being examined with tongue in cheek. The Princess Bride is a good example... and now, so is your book. I really hope the I read the veiled hint at the end rightly. I'd love to read a sequel. I have a deep affection for Children's/Young Adult fantasy, and this was so good that I intend to buy it for several friends and family members for Christmas.

Thank you!
(C.T.)