Rachel Fetzer

April 17, 2016

LIS 618
Booktalk Project
Alice in Wonderland: The Rewrites
Presentation
https://voicethread.com/share/7772509/
Bibliographic Citations
Beddor, Frank. (2006). The Looking Glass Wars. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Howard, A.G. (2013). Splintered. New York, NY: Abrams.
Showalter, Gena. (2012). Alice in Zombieland. Canada: Harlequin Teen.
Positive Reviews
Bradburn, F. (2013, January 1). Splintered. Booklist, 109(9-10), 114.
For grades 8-12.
Carton, D. (2012, October 15). Alice in Zombieland. Booklist, 109(4), 48.
For grades 7-12.
Wong, J. (2007). The Looking Glass Wars. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(8), 692+.
For ages 15-18.
Booktalk
Alice in Wonderland has been a topic of many conversations ranging from where Lewis
Carroll got the idea for the book to whether a rabbit hole to a different world is possible. This
book and the Disney cartoon version has always been one of my favorite books and movies. The
idea that a different world exists where everything is upside down and a mushroom can make
you grow taller or shorter has always been vivid in my imagination. The following three books
offer different takes on Lewis Carrols classic by adding darker themes, zombies, and/or war
between the red and the white queens. These books offer unique twists on the original classic

and takes you down the rabbit hole in various ways. These books are aimed toward teens 14 and
up, though it depends on the maturity of the teen.
My personal favorite of the three (though all are good) is Splintered by A.G. Howard.
Splintered takes place with Alices great-great-great granddaughter, Alyssa Gardner. Alyssa is
struggling to be a normal teenager but ever since she turned 10 she has been hearing bugs talk to
her. As she turns 16, weird things begin to happen. As a moth appears that she remembers from
childhood (how is that possible) she begins having memories of dreams the she had as a child
and she begins hearing a mans voice and seeing posters morph into talking people. Afraid to
end up in a mental asylum like her mother, she keeps these things secret finding clues that lead to
her past. One night she falls into a mirror and gets pulled into a Wonderland that is different
from the one Lewis Carrol wrote about. For example, the White Rabbit is actually Rabid White,
a human-like creature that looks like a skeleton with antlers rather than the beloved white rabbit
were all used to. Having to complete 7 tasks to gain her rightful throne, Howard continues to
twist both Wonderland and the characters into something darker than Lewis had originally wrote.
Alyssa also meets Morpheus, the moth that can change into a man. As she begins to talk to him,
she begins developing feelings towards him but who will win: Morpheus, her new love, or Jeb,
the boy shes known since she was small? Go down this rabbit hole as Alyssa makes her journey
and faces off with Red, the standing queen of Wonderland.
Frank Beddor has his own clash between the White and Red Queens in his book The
Looking Glass Wars. In a world where imagination can produce anything (think of an ice cream
cone and voila! an ice cream cone appears), tarty tarts are available on every street corner, and
the Heart Crystal contains imaginative inventions that will later come to our world (like
lightbulbs), everything seems perfect to seven-year-old Alyss Heart. That is until her Aunt Redd

attacked, killing both of her parents with Alyss barely escaping. In the hands of Hatter Madigan,
he takes her to the Poof of Tears yet again barely escaping before The Cat could catch them. The
Pool of Tears is something which no Wonderlander has ever returned from and Alyss and Hatter
get separated in current. Alyss pops up in England where her name gets changed from Alyss to
Alice. Meanwhile, in Wonderland Redd begins her tyranny making everyone in Wonderland
suffer, welcoming black magic and pushing out white magic. Beddors tale has weaponry that is
unique to his tale. The card soldiers fold out to double their size, there are cannonball spiders
that eat their victim, and top hats that turn into blades of destruction. Beddor takes Lewis classic
tale and adds a military-like point of view with a good vs. evil plotline. The book will have you
reading to the end, wondering who will win: Alyss or Redd? White imagination or black
imagination?
If you prefer something darker, something with flesh eaters in it, this next book is for
you. Gena Showalter combines Carrols idea with two different worlds, rabbits, and war. Alice
longed for a normal life, one where her dad wasnt crazy and didnt see invisible monsters that
lurked at night. She and her little sister hid behind embarrassment and were never allowed to go
out after dark or stay at anyones houses. They managed to change their dads mind for a dance
recital but, had Ali known how the night was going to end, she would have begged not to go.
The dance recital was great but on the way home the family was in a car accident and everyone
was killed, except for Ali. As she lied on the cold ground she could have sworn she saw
shadowed figures going into her mom, eating her. It couldnt be the monsters her dad saw
could it? While shes in the hospital she meets Kat who also ends up being at her new school.
She and Kat are walking through the halls when her eyes meet violet eyes then suddenly the
world disappears and its just them. They draw closer as the same thing happens day after day.

She finds the boys name is Cole and he fights zombies. Not regular zombies, though. Zombies
that feed on your soul and can only be fought through the spirit realm. Through instruction from
Cole and his friends, Ali begins the journey to learn how to fight the monsters that once plagued
her dad and also discovers some secrets she herself has.
These books take a different approach to Lewis Carrols wonderland, each creating their
own spin of it. Ranging from spirit-eating zombies to carnivorous plants, each details a world
that will leave you wanting more. Sowill you jump down the rabbit hole into a new world that
will lead your imagination on a journey that it wont soon forget?