After finishing Matilda, C — being swayed by M’s recent discovery of and enthusiasm for these books — begged to start the Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley. And we’re both glad we did; it was a whole lot of clever fun.

Sabrina, age 11, and Daphne, age 7, were orphaned a year and a half ago and have been bumping around foster homes ever since. Until they get sent to Ferryport Landing to live with their supposed grandmother, Relda Grimm. It’s there that they learn the truth: the Grimms are not collectors of tales, but rather historians of the true events that people call “fairy tales”. The characters are real. The events are real. Daphne buys into it right away, but it takes Granny Relda (and her companion, Mr. Canis) being kidnapped by a giant to convince Sabrina. There’s a daring rescue, betrayal, and a bunch of fairy-tale insider jokes along the way.

C ate this one up. She was actually reminding me — begging me! — to read every night. She didn’t want me to stop, especially if the chapter ended with a cliff-hanger (which they often did). She made me swear that I wouldn’t read ahead (I was good), and then asked questions about how it was going to turn out. She begged information off of M (who would listen in and make cryptic comments now and again — she’s read all 5 and knows more of the story than we do), who was pretty good about not giving C too much. It was exciting and fun to read (more accents!) and very well-written, too.

We’ve got the second one on hold… and are waiting eagerly to see what happens next with Sabrina and Daphne.