The Sisters Grimm (novel Series) - Overview

Overview

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have gone through a series of foster homes after their parents disappear (see details in "The Sisters Grimm: About the Disappearance". They have been treated as maids, servants, and other things that children shouldn't be. This is mostly because they have a harsh and uncaring caseworker, Ms. Smirt, who is supposed to help find a safe new home for them. After all of their trouble, they end up in the care of their long-lost and supposedly dead grandmother whom Sabrina believes is crazy. They soon find that they are living in a town of Everafters, live characters from fantasy and fairy tales. Their family business is working as detectives, who solve mysteries that might be connected to the disappearance of their parents. Unluckily for them, an evil group of Everafters, called The Scarlet Hand, are determined to find a way out of the barrier created by a witch and take over the world. This barrier stops the Everafters in Ferryport Landing from leaving. The only way to destroy the barrier is if all the Grimms leave the town or if they all die.

• The Fairy-tale Detectives - The Fairy Tale Detectives introduces us to two orphaned sisters, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, who are sent to live with their mysterious grandmother, Relda Grimm. Grandmother Grimm lives in a strange town in New York State, known for its extraordinary number of unexplained and unusual crimes. As soon as the sisters arrive, they begin to unravel a mystery that leads to their ancestors’ magical beginnings. Sabrina and Daphne learn they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually detectives of the magical phenomenon perpetrated by the Everafters, a parallel race of magical beings. They soon discover it is the Grimm family’s legacy to keep the Everafters in line and the two sisters are the sole heirs to this challenge! In this first book in the series, the girls are pitted against giants, who have been rampaging through town in their search for an Englishman named Jack, currently working at the Big & Tall store.

• The Unusual Suspects - The Sisters Grimm start school at Ferryport Landing Elementary. Daphne gets Snow White for a teacher, while Sabrina's stuck with Mr. Grumpner and a class of mildly psychotic sixth graders. When Mr. Grumpner is murdered in a particularly unusual way, it is up to the Grimms to find the Everafter who did it. A great friend turns into a great enemy (a member of the Scarlet Hand), and when the school is blown up by Rumpelstiltskin, who turns into a human bomb, Mr. Canis doesn't make it out in time.

• The Problem Child - The Sisters Grimm face their parents’ kidnappers, an organization of Everafters who call themselves the Scarlet Hand. One of them turns out to be Little Red Riding Hood, and the other, the Jabberwocky, an unstoppable killing machine. The girls have little hope of rescuing their mother and father until their long-lost Uncle Jake returns home with stories of a weapon, now missing, that can kill the Jabberwocky. Sabrina, given a wand by Uncle Jake, gets a magic addiction. Only the Blue Fairy can put the pieces of the Vorpal Blade together, but who has the pieces? And who is the Blue Fairy anyway? Mayor Charming, for once, has competition for the mayoral election by the Queen of Hearts. Puck's wings are ripped off in a Jabberwocky attack at a diner.

• Once Upon a Crime - Sabrina just wants to be normal - no detecting, no dangerous escapes, and especially no Everafters. Unfortunately, New York City is a city filled with wand-wielding fairy godfathers, swashbuckling Wall Street pirates, subway stealing dwarfs, and worst of all... a murderer in their midst. This makes Sabrina feel sick about her old home. She doesn't think it safe there anymore either. The girls and their friends must figure out who killed Puck's father, King Oberon, while coming to terms with their mother's secret life. They also have to deal with Puck's cocoon; he sprayed Sabrina and not Moth.

• Magic and Other Misdemeanors - Someone is stealing the magical possessions of the most powerful Everafters in town? Granny is distracted by Mayor Heart's campaigning against human residents, the girl detectives are on their own. Puss in Boots (now an exterminator), Cinderella (a radio relationship counselor), Sleeping Beauty (owner of a coffee shop), and their old enemy, Prince Charming, are among the many suspects. The girls get sucked into the future and are surprised at what they see.

• Tales from The Hood - A kangaroo court of Everafters, led by Queen of Hearts, is determined to find Canis guilty and force the Grimms out of Ferryport Landing. Meanwhile, Puck has decided to focus more on his mischievous ways, making a few new troublemaker friends to protect the family. So it’s up to Sabrina and Daphne to find evidence to save Canis.

• The Everafter War - Sabrina and Daphne’s parents awake from their sleeping spell. But they are caught in the middle of a war between the Scarlet Hand and Prince Charming’s Everafter army. As the family works to help the prince’s and protect their friends, Sabrina faces the family’s deadliest enemy — the mysterious Master — who reveals a secret.

• The Inside Story - Picking up where the cliffhanger ending of book seven left off, this book follows Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck through the world of the Book of Everafter, where all the fairy tales are stored and enchanted characters can change their destinies. The girls (and Puck) must chase the Master through a series of stories, where they're willing to change what they need in order to save their baby brother. Soon, however, they are confronted by The Editor - the book's guardian - who, along with an army of tiny monsters known as Revisers, threaten the children with dire consequences if they don't stick to the stories. So they move from one legendary tale to the next doing their best to find the Master and stop his plan to steal and inhabit the child's body. Along the way they'll play the roles of Alice, Mowgli, Jack the Giant Killer, Hansel and Gretel, and the Headless Horseman in the stories they visit. Will they be able to find their brother in time? Also what is hidden in the margins of Snow White, the story that the Master was born in?

• The Council of Mirrors * is the last book in the series and was released on May 8, 2012. In this new Sisters Grimm book, Sabrina, Daphne and their family and friends must fight the Master, who has failed to escape Ferryport Landing. After his failure, the Master turns to plan B: kill every last member of the Grimm family until the barrier surrounding the town falls. In this book, some beloved characters might end up dying, but despite that, this book has a satisfying conclusion for readers of the series.It includes peeks at Sabrina's later life.

• Sisters Grimm: A Very Grimm Guide* Released in January 2012, the Guide (edited by Puck) contains extra information about Ferryport Landing, the characters and the series itself.