Review: Gives a whole new light on the "Teddy Bear Picnic"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 11, 2011
Gives a whole new light on the "Teddy Bear Picnic"For those that have read Jenna Black's Glimmerglass, you will recognize our first person protagonist this time around as Kimber, Ethan's little sister. Kimber is 15 years old, very smart (already in college), and desperately wanting her father's attention, but her father values magical talents (such as the ones Ethan can wield with ease) over her mental abilities. So she invites her friend Dee Dee over to try to help Kimber with magic. Things quickly go awry when Kimber tries to levitate teddy bears and the teddy bears become...ALIVE!This short story is a perfect introduction to the character of Kimber and definitely makes her a much more sympathetic character (not that she wasn't already from Glimmerglass). I totally understood Kimber's desire to find her own niche, to get her dad to appreciate her for her own talents, and her resentment to her brother for tending to supersede her. Kimber also gels well with her personification in Glimmerglass.The only other characters to appear are Ethan and Dee Dee. Ethan felt well done, definitely like his Glimmerglass personification, but a little more carefree and girl-crazy, as expected from the viewpoint of his knowing sister. Dee Dee was cool, partly because she is another Faerie, and even in Glimmerglass, you don't get to see all that many Faeries. Too bad she doesn't do more in this short story (though how that would happen without totally dragging the story...).The story itself was poignant. Kimber learns the hard way to appreciate herself for who she is and to stop trying to be what she isn't. I also liked that she was a little selfish (not telling her brother and father she didn't really like Teddy Bears because she wanted her dad's affections in any way). I hate characters that come off as too perfect or not age appropriate (what teenager wouldn't want the attention of her parents?).This story happens before the events of Glimmerglass, but don't think you have to read the novel before reading the short story. The two obviously work well together, but Remedial Magic could be read without the novel because it provides most of the backstory necessary for the plot.Black's writing was great. She balanced perfectly between description (what is Faerie, what is Avalon, who are the characters, etc.) and action (trying out magic, the attack of the teddy bears, etc.).The language is rather strong with two sh**'s, a sh**, and two da**'s. Considering the short story is about five clicks long, that is an awful lot.Overall, I rather enjoyed this short story. I highly recommend, particularly if you have A) read Glimmerglass and liked it, B) read Glimmerglass and wanted to know more about Kimber or C) wanted to know if Glimmerglass is worth the time without spend a lot of money