RUMP

This funny, heart-warming middle-grade retelling of Rumpelstiltskin is a magical debut novel. The story of this most infamous of names unfolds in a fairytale world populated by pixies with gold fever, sludge-slurping trolls, and aunts who are witches. It tenderly contours a legend, recasting the reviled character of Rumpelstiltskin as a 12-year-old boy you can't help but feel for as he searches for his name and destiny.

Rump is a lousy name. Everyone knows your name is your destiny, and Rump’s destiny really stinks. Because his mother only spoke aloud part of his name before she died, Rump is only part of a person. He’s puny and fears he’s good for about as much as his donkey, Nothing. When Rump discovers his mother’s magic of spinning straw to gold, he thinks his destiny is golden, until the miller manipulates Rump into handing over the gold. The magic that allows Rump to spin the gold binds him to take whatever others offer in exchange. The miller’s daughter strikes the most foolish bargain: offering and obliging Rump to accept her first-born child. To free himself of the miller’s greed and the magic’s bargains, Rump learns of rumpel, magic that traps you, and of stiltskins, magic that frees you. He’s got the trapped part down. If only he could find a stiltskin. If only Rump knew his whole name. The author, Liesl Shurtliff, grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah as the fourth child in a crazy combined family of eight. She studied Music, Dance, and Theater at Brigham Young University, where she earned her B.F.A. She is the author of several short stories for young readers published in Guideposts Sweet 16, Hopscotch for Girls, and The Friend. She writes book reviews for Deseret News and she’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She maintains the blog Writer Ropes and Hopes. Liesl currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and three children. She’s currently working on other fairytale retellings which expand the universe of RUMP.