Cinda Meets Ella

Contributors

By Wallace West

Formats and Prices

Price

$18.99

Price

$23.99 CAD

Format

Hardcover

Format:

Hardcover $18.99 $23.99 CAD

In this western-style twist on Cinderella and follow up to Mighty Red Riding Hood, Cinda finds a partner in nonbinary Ella at a high-stakes rodeo-style contest!

Cinda sure loves a good adventure…but her life’s been nothing but miserable since awful Aunt Hildy and her boys tromped in and took over. So when a mysterious Rider calls a roping-and-riding contest at the Rancho Del Reina, she sure as heck’s gotta enter. That cash prize’ll buy back her freedom! Can she giddyap and grab the gold—and Ella Del Reina’s attention—before sundown?

Told in Wallace West’s distinctive, chuckle-inducing read-aloud style bursting with southwestern flair, here is a story that shows readers a different but equally satisfying kind of happily ever after.

  • “With a happily-ever-after full of animals and adventure on the horizon, this story jazzes up “Cinderella” with a vibrant palette of primary colors and expressive illustrations that relate as much of the story as the text itself…. A fantastical romp to lasso any heart.”
    Kirkus Reviews
  • "West's text is a fun and frothy update that reimagines the story.... A worthy update to a well-known tale."
    School Library Journal
  • Praise for Mighty Red Riding Hood:

    “With all the amiability of Todd Parr, the loose cartoon drawing style of the fractured fairy tales from Saturday morning’s Bullwinkle & Rocky, and the wide-open welcome of Jonathan Van Ness, this story turns Red Riding Hood inside out and reveals a Southern-fried story of keeping things friendly no matter our differences…. The language will have children laughing, the lesson is sensible not syrupy, and the ending a pure surprise. A classic in the making, for all fairy-tale shelves, and sure to be a read-aloud favorite.” I>School Library Journal

    “'Durn’ funny…our self-assured, chic protagonist is a joyful model of a ‘I’ll do me, you do you’ attitude. The narrative tone has a sassy irreverence, adding to the story’s overall charm.” I>BCCB

    “West obviously has had great fun telling his fractured fairy tale in a rustic backwoods dialect and matches it with cartoon-style pictures that capture the antic tone of the text perfectly. His genderflipped classic painlessly defies gender norms to empowering effect.” I>Booklist

    “This book is for all the Little Reds who long to be firecrackers. And for all the big wolves who long to do better.” B>Victoria J. Coe, author of the Fenway and Hattie series

    “Red’s impeccable style and unshakeable confidence are a charming reminder—to kids and adults alike—that we all have the right to express ourselves unapologetically.”
    Roxanne Fequiere, writer, fashion and lifestyle journalist

On Sale
May 16, 2023
Page Count
40 pages
ISBN-13
9780316628372

Wallace West

About the Author

Wallace West is the author of the first Fairly Queer Tale, Mighty Red Riding Hood, which School Library Journal described as “a classic in the making, for all fairy-tale shelves, and sure to be a read-aloud favorite.” A Texas native now rooted in the Northeast, he spends the rest of his time in faraway places and has more than once galloped on horseback through the woods of Normandy. Wallace says he wrote these Fairly Queer Tales because “I want to show non-genderconforming kids that being queer is an exciting and empowering kind of different, and that happily-ever-after feels the same—even if it doesn’t look the same—for everyone.” He invites you to see more of his work at wallacewest.com.

Learn more about this author