Rapunzel's Revenge 

by Shannon and Dean Hale

Hale, Shannon & Hale, Dean. (2008). Rapunzel’s revenge. New York, NY: Bloombury U.S.A. Children’s Books.

Most people are familiar with the story of Rapunzel; the girl with the extremely long hair who lets it down for her prince to come up and save her.  Well that is not quite how this story plays out.  It does begin with a girl trapped in a tower, who has been there so long that her hair has grown to incredible lengths, but that's about where the similarities end.  In this exciting take on an old classic, Rapunzel is more than capable of saving herself, and uses her tresses to battle villains, drive away coyotes, and defeat a huge serpent all in an effort to find her way home, take revenge on her captor and make the world a better place for all.

Evaluation Criteria: Plot and Theme

The plot of this story revolves around Rapunzel who as a young girl was taken from her mother and basically held captive by Gothel in her villa, while she enslaved Rapunzel’s mother and the other townsfolk to build up her empire.  When Rapunzel discovers this and threatens to run away, Gothel has her locked away in a tree tower where she has nothing to do but wait and think and watch her hair grow and grow.  Once it grows long enough, she uses it to escape the tower and so begins her adventure to find her way home across the old west with an outlaw named Jack, where she will seek revenge against Gothel for all the evil she has done.  The overriding theme in this graphic novel is that good triumphs evil.  Several times throughout the story we see Rapunzel become dismayed at how selfish and cruel people can be and each time she attempts fight for what is right and sees to it that goodness will prevail. 

Teaching Guide to Rapunzel's Revenge

Book Trailer for Rapunzel's Revenge