Why I Let My Hair Grow Out

Author: Maryrose Wood

Pages: 218

Published: Berkley Jam, 2007

Genre: Contemporary fiction/Fantasy

Target Audience: Girls, 13 and older

Cover Score: A

Overall Grade: A-

Source: Author/Publisher

Summary: When Morgan's boyfriend breaks up with her on the last day of school and she shaved her head and dyed the remains orange as an act of change, Morgan expected to be punished by her parents. However, she didn't expect to be sent to Ireland on a bike tour for some "change of scenery". Now she's surrounded by annoying tourmates and a slightly-cute Irish guy who drives the tour luggage van, when she takes a tumble off of her bike, conks her head and wakes up...in some bizarre version of the past? Surrounded by fairies, wee folk, and the works, Morgan even discovers she's part fairy goddess. Now, she's biking across Ireland, trying to reverse an ancient curse, and doing a bit of changing (maybe even for the better) herself...

My thoughts: I always love books that take place in a different country, but Ireland was a particularly colorful, fun background for this story that set up all sorts of magical shenanigans.

My favorite part of this whole entire book was the incredible, mindboggling creativity put into it.

a) all the characters: FAB-u-LOUS! It felt like they really jumped off the pages and came to life. Just reading the back cover, I expected Morgan to be a self-pitying, whining little brat, but instead found myself loving her voice and sympathizing along with her. Plus, Colin's accent was awesome, it felt to me as the reader as if a true Irishman were talking (:

b) I loved how the characters from the real book were mirrored in fairy land. It gave it a very cool twist and made the plotline so more unique.

I would've liked to have seen more of plain old Morgan in Ireland, but other than that, the book was an adventurous, riveting, hilarious romp with a cast of kick-butt characters and some awesome Irish fairy tale heroes. Now I'm totally chomping at the bit to get my hands on the sequel--hopefully it can be as awesome as this one!

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