Goldilocks on CCTV

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

There she was on the news, Miss Goody Two-Shoes, Caught on CCTV.

Don't look so shocked! Of course you know who - Who else but Goldilocks?

Here are 30 amazing poems which are rooted in the world of fairy tale and legend. Wickedly witty, deliciously subversive and utterly modern, the poems are also affectionate and big-hearted tributes to the original tales and characters that inspired them. This is a sizzling new collection from a master poet, portrayed with verce by Satoshi Kitamura's extraordinary black-and-white illustrations.

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Pumpkin Biker Cinderella Don't mean to be a pain, Fairy Godmother. But if it isn't too much bother, Instead of turning a pumpkin into a coach I'll tell you what - a motorbike would be grand. No disrespect of course to your magic wand. I'll eat up the highway with a roar and a rev On what was once common veg. Think what that would do for my street cred. I'm sure you'll manage some mega horsepower. After all you are my fairy godmother. I can just see those faces at the ball When I make my entrance, crash helmet and all. They'll wonder who's that churning hellraiser Dressed to the nines in daredevil leather. They'll never guess it's me, ash-girl Cinderella. Don't trouble yourself with silver slippers. No, I'll be happy with my biker's boots. And by the stroke of the midnight hour I promise I'll be back - and that's the truth - With some stranded heart for my pinion rider. Why are you smiling, Fairy Godmother? Excerpted from Goldilocks on CCTV by John Agard All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

From Puss in Boots' swaggering descendant "Puss-in-Trainers" to the titular break-and-enter artist caught on security cameras, Agard lays urban-inflected modern twists on 29 folkloric characters. Written in rhyme or free verse with hip-hop cadences, the poems are nearly all in first person and range in tone from funny or acid ("Bring on your shining armour, dude. / I'll be your damsel in distress with attitude"), to dark, even threatening. Many offer fresh approaches to the familiar, such as quick portraits of Cinderella in biker leathers and Iron Jack as an emotionally vulnerable Gulf War vet. An apple and a magic mirror provide unusual points of view about their assigned roles, as do "Two Ugly Sisters" who defiantly declare that they "won't be face-down in no make-up kit / We give the thumbs-up to hair in the armpit," but end with a sobering "Never mind the eye, we enchant the ear / From our ugly mouths come song, come prayer." The poems are printed in a variety of typefaces, and Kitamura's heavily inked black-and-white cartoons or silhouettes likewise change looks while adding appropriately dark, angular, energetic visual notes. Considerably more edgy satire than Happily Ever After here; a bracing take for teens. (Poetry. 12-16)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.