The Hazel Wood

Albert, M. (2018). The Hazel Wood : a novel. New York, NY: Flatiron Books.

Summary:

Alice and her mother have been on the run her entire life. They are attempting to escape the bad luck that follows them wherever they go. But when Alice’s grandmother, acclaimed reclusive novelist of Tales from the Hinterland, dies, her mother finds it safe to settle down.

She was wrong.

When her mother is kidnapped by a mysterious stranger, Alice must enlist the help of Hinterland fan Ellery Finch to find her. Their search takes them to the Hazel Wood, her grandmother’s estate left to her mother in the will. It is there Alice learns that sometimes fairy tales aren’t so fantastical after all.

Reaction:

First of all, the cover of this book is utterly breathtaking. Black with gold and silver foil so that it shines when the light hits it. Different aspects of the story are represented between the city buildings for New York and the castles for the Hinterland. A figure 8 or infinity symbol combine everything together.

If you’re a fan of fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, this book will catch you with its summary on the inside. Alice (one would think after Alice in Wonderland) and her mother, Ella (Cinderella most likely) have been on the run. Alice’s grandmother wrote a famous book of dark fairy tales. Once you start reading, the interest sort of dies.

Alice mentions several times that she has anger issues. No examples are really given as to what she hasn’t used the breathing techniques her mother taught her. There’s no basis for her anger issues other than the fact that she’s had to constantly move her entire life. She’s rude to pretty much everyone she meets, especially the only person that could help her and is genuinely kind to her.  

The author seems to want to make Alice and her stepsister, Audrey, out to dislike each other but fails. As a matter of fact, they seem to like each other. They have the sort of relationship where they’re mean to one another but it’s a form of affection.

The dark fairy tales mentioned don’t really have a place in the novel towards the middle-end, and even then their placement is weak. It turns out her grandmother, Althea, stole the stories from a different world. Yup, the Hinterland. And when she did that, those stories could leave. Like Alice. Spoiler alert!

The whole reason behind the novel is for Alice to save her mother. And she does. But when they return to “normal” life, there is little to no mention of her. Instead, Alice has realized that she would rather still be part of the Hinterland. And when she meets a refugee that broke her own story, as Alice did, she decides that sure! They’ll go to school together! This is an obvious attempt at making sure readers know a sequel is in the works. And there is. The Night Country is expected to be published September 2019. And The Hazel Wood has already been optioned as a film.

Connections:

Activities:

- Prompt: If you could actually escape into your favorite story, which would it be? Why would you want to escape there? What would you do?
- Alice mentions the flower tattoo she has gotten, the same as her mother. She later learns it is a Hinterland flower. Using text from the book, draw what you believe the flower to look like.
- Design a new cover for the book.
- A table of contents for Tales from the Hinterland is provided but many of the tales are not. Choose one of the titles and write its tale.
- Read some of the original fairy tales as they were written. Compare the original to that of Disney. (EX: In the original Little Mermaid, the mermaid committed suicide when she couldn’t murder the prince. In the original Cinderella, the stepsisters cut their feet in order to fit into the glass slipper. In the original Rapunzel, the prince is blinded.)
- Prompt: How would you survive a fairy tale? After students answer, introduce Neil Gaiman’s Instructions - Gaiman, N., Vess, C. & Davern, T. (2010). Instructions : [everything you'll need to know on your journey. New York: Harper.

Other Books with a Fairy Tale/Fantastical Feel to Them:

Garber, S. (2017). Caraval. New York: Flatiron Books.

Garber, S. (2018). Legendary : a Caraval novel. New York: Flatiron Books.

Cashore, K. (2017). Jane, unlimited. New York, NY: Kathy Dawson Books.

Jones, S. (2017). Wintersong. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St Martin's Griffin.

Paige, D. (2016). Stealing Snow. New York: Bloomsbury.

Prineas, S. (2015). Ash & bramble. New York, NY: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

Maxwell, L. (2016). Unhooked. New York: Simon Pulse.

Video:

[Flatiron Books]. (2018, January 25). The Hazel Wood book trailer [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-hkN-AJbZd0

[Barnes & Noble]. (2018, March 1). The B&N Podcast: Melissa Albert on THE HAZEL WOOD [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/TWCgS_e99ao