Mihi Ever After

September 26, 2022
Keller (Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone) leans into the power of fairy tales, friendship, and self-acceptance via this quickly paced fantasy. In Massachusetts, Korean American princess fan Mihi Whan Park feels “like a princess, like someone important, someone who mattered, someone who belonged,” but a close friend’s hurtful comment disparaging princess play as “babyish and kind of annoying” leaves her wondering if she will ever be good enough for a fairy tale life. An unexpected portal in the school librarian’s refrigerator allows Mihi and two new friends—Reese, who is Black, and cued-white Savannah—into a magical world peopled with characters from popular European nursery rhymes and fairy tales. At first, the girls are ready for adventure and thrilled about the potential of becoming royalty, but various setbacks soon show the world’s grimmer realities, including restrictive rules for princesshood. And when she and her friends don’t agree on how to react, Mihi must decide whether to prioritize her dreams of princesshood or her hopes for friendship. Familiar elements combine with vivid storytelling and cartoon renderings by Rodríguez (Bella’s Recipe for Success) to underline themes of adventure and self-discovery. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Faye Bender, Book Group.

January 1, 2024
A threat to the survival of the Rainbow Realm brings bigger stakes and more questions in this third series entry. Directly following the events of Mihi Ever After: A Giant Problem (2023), Mihi Park and best friends Reese and Savannah somberly travel back to the Rainbow Realm, aware that, due to the dangers of their mission, they may never return home. The girls must venture across worlds to retrieve Princess Pat, who's traveling to various lands and taking the dust that's a source of magic in order to save the Rainbow Realm, where magic is waning. Bertha, an antagonist turned ally, brings the friends to the bazaar and the shop Masters of Disguise, where old helpers Dae Ho and Conan equip them with Follow Feet, tracking shoes that lead the wearer to the person they want to find. The action-packed story quickly picks up in pace as the trio set off on mechanical dragon trains. Elements from global fairy tales are incorporated, including a Korean kumiho (fox demon) and dokkaebi (goblins) and Irish leprechauns. As the trio close in on Pat, Mihi questions whether it's right to let one realm die in order for another to survive. Mihi's choices spur a shift in the magic that affects the portals, ending the book on a cliffhanger. Engaging black-and-white illustrations add to the suspense. Enthralling adventures and plot twists will leave readers impatient for the next installment. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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February 16, 2024

Gr 3-6-Picking up where A Giant Problem left off, Mihi, Reese, and Savannah find themselves returning to the Rainbow Realm to help find their friend Princess Pat. In an effort to save her fading kingdom, Princess Pat has left to steal magic dust from other realms hoping that it can restore her own. As Mihi, Reese, and Savannah search for Princess Pat, they face challenging decisions and dangerous creatures as well as some serious ethical questions about taking from others for your own gain. The girls come face-to-face with stories and characters from both Korean and Irish folklore, in addition to fairy-tale characters they have already met. But their limited knowledge of the new stories makes it difficult to make good decisions and ultimately the girls must decide who to trust and what they should do. Enemies both old and new make an appearance leading to a cliffhanger ending that indicates that the trio's adventures in the fairy-tale realm will continue. VERDICT An additional purchase where the first two books are popular, or where stories like this and Sarah Mlynowski's "Whatever After" series are in demand.-Heidi Grange

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