Zel

Zel

By Donna Jo Napoli

Pages:227

ISBN: 0141301163

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: An old village town that has Knights and village people and country folk.

Zel is a retelling of the story of Rapunzel. It is about a girl, that should be a woman that is taken captive by her mother after her mother sees that Zel is growing and falling for a youth. A youth is a young man that catches the eye of a young woman or vice versa. Zel’s youth is Konrad and Konrad’s youth is Zel. This story had me going through loops. I really never knew what to expect from it. I don’t want to give to much of the story away but I’ll give a bit of an outline. Zel and her mother go to the market twice a year. While in the market Zel goes to the smithy and enchants a horse, Meta, while Meta’s owner, Konrad, watches. There is something there. Konrad doesn’t know it but he has fallen in love at first sight. Zel leaves the village and the story takes a Cinderella turn on events. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys the retelling of stories that most American children grew up hearing.