The Sisters Grimm
The Sisters Grimm is a fantasy novel series written by Michael Buckley, and centers on Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, descendants of the Brothers Grimm. The story mainly revolves around the idea that many famous authors (including L. Frank Baum, Hans Christian Andersen, William Shakespeare, and the Brothers Grimm) were not merely writing fiction: they were actually recording a history of magical phenomenons. The characters in these authors "stories" were actually real creatures called "Everafters", and powerful magic worked by Wilhelm Grimm and the witch Baba Yaga keep them prisoners in the small town of Ferryport Landing, as long as all of the Grimm family are left alive and at least one of them live in Ferryport Landing. The series has currently released six books.
Although the Everafters are basically "Fairy-tale creatures" and the term Fairy-tale is used often, the word appears to be used loosely: stories as old as The Three Little Pigs and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" A movie for 2010 is set in motion, as of now.
- Magic and Other Misdemeanors
- Tales from The Hood
Plot summaries
Book 1 The Fairy-Tale Detectives
The story begins as orphans Sabrina and Daphne go to live with their grandmother (whom they thought was dead) in the small town of Ferryport Landing. They soon find out that their grandmother is a very strange and eccentric person who claims that the town is filled with fairy-tale beings. She also says that Sabrina and Daphne are the last living descendants of the Brothers Grimm. Although Daphne believes her, Sabrina does not and she wishes to escape although when she and Daphne try to they are attacked by pixies in the woods. Later on their grandmother and Mr. Canis get kidnapped by a giant that is wreaking havoc in the town. Sabrina and Daphne, left alone in the wilderness, soon meet Puck (From A Midsummer's Night Dream) and he agrees to help them save their grandmother since she was kind to him and fed him sometimes. They also meet the Magic Mirror (From Snow White) who tells them who can stop the giant. While being pursued by the police, Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck escape the house on a magic carpet and fly to the Ferryport Landing jail where they rescue Jack (From Jack and the Beanstalk.) Jack helps them form a plan to sneak into the Mayor Prince Charming's party and try to recover information about the giant. But the giant finds them instead and wrecks the furious mayor's mansion. Sabrina (disguised as Mama Bear) and Daphne (disguised as the Tinman) escape and find out that Jack tricked them. He was the one who set loose the giant hoping that by killing it in front of a crowd of news reporters he would come back into immense fame. They also discover he is part of a shady organization known as The Scarlet Hand. But just as things are looking their bleakest, he is stopped by Mr. Canis, who transforms into the Big Bad Wolf, and the giant is sent back to his kingdom. The book ends with Puck moving in with Granny Relda and the girls catching a glimpse of their parents in the Magic Mirror.
Book 2 The Unusual Suspects
Sabrina and Daphne are off to school, but when Sabrina's teacher, Mr. Grumpner, is murdered, with a scarlet handprint left on the chalkboard, they realize that something is very odd. With the help of Wendell, the son of the Pied Piper of Hamilton; whom is also the principal of their school, they search the school's halls for clues, finally coming upon a shocking secret and a deadly encounter with the children of some very famous fairy-tale characters and the monstrous Rumplestiltskin. Sabrina and Daphne discover a cave under school, where she finds her family and friends trapped in a web where they would be soon suffocated to death. Sabrina, while defeating Rumplestiltskin and his supporters, discovers that they are part of a secret Everafter organization called the Scarlet Hand, who had killed Grumpner and kidnapped her parents. Sabrina, after saving the trapped people, goes to a ruins of a hospital and comes face to face with the kidnapper of her parents, although the kidnapper's face was hidden under a hood. Book 2 ends here, but the scene continues on in Book 3.
Book 3 The Problem Child
Sabrina, confronted by an evil villain and a vicious monster, continues to fight when Puck comes to save her (once again, he complains). Just then, the portal burns out, and Sabrina and Puck are trapped in an old asylum. After her injuries heal at the hospital, Sabrina goes back with her family to Relda's house where they hold a celebration to welcome back Sabrina. That night, after investigating through many journals, the criminal becomes clear: Little Red Riding Hood. The following night, wanting to know about Red Riding Hood, Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck go to the ruins of the asylum where she had met the Everafter child. They search for medical files in hopes of finding a clue, but a mysterious man discovers them. He seems to know Sabrina and Daphne's name, but thinking that he is part of the Scarlet Hand, the three escape back to her grandmother's house. In the morning, Sabrina, Daphne, Relda and Puck travel to the newly built school for the opening ceremony, where Mayor Prince Charming gives a speech. However, he is distracted when the Queen of Hearts announces that she dislikes Charming's ideas and she will seek election as mayor. Suddenly, just as the chaos began, the mysterious man Sabrina had met at the ruin pops out of nowhere. He turns out to be Jacob Alexander Grimm, Relda's son and Henry's brother who gets Sabrina addicted to magic and Sabrina gets her into trouble with Baba Yaga. That night, while everyone was asleep, Sabrina sneaks into the room where Jacob was sleeping, to take a look at the files in search for clues. She accidentally wakes Jacob, but instead of sending her back to bed, he explains about a few things about Red Riding Hood. The kidnapper had fallen in despair after she had lost many people that she had cared for, and thinking that her dead kitten was the ferocious monster called the Jabberwocky, she went on kidnapping other people she thought she had lost. That was how the sisters Grimm's parents were kidnapped, with Little Red Riding Hood thinking that they were her dead parents. Red Riding Hood seems evil only because of the Jabberwocky; once the Jabberwocky is killed, she is not to be feared. But Sabrina discovers that the only thing that can kill the Jabberwocky is the Vorpal blade, which was divided into three pieces and distributed to separate places in Ferryport Landing. They already have the first piece. Sabrina, Daphne, and Jacob must find the remaining two.
Uncle Jake wants to take Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck out for a drive. Granny sends Sabrina to get Puck, where she finds him pouting because Granny gives more attention to Uncle Jake then him. Sabrina tells him that she cares about him, and Puck kisses her. Sabrina freaks, punching Puck in the stomach. It is implied later in "The Problem Child" and "Once Upon A Crime" that she uncovers some of her true feelings for him, and regrets slugging him after the kiss. Later during their drive, the Jabberwocky attacks and rips Pucks wings off. After two narrow escapes, they get hold of the pieces from Baba Yaga and the Little Mermaid. Sabrina tries connecting the pieces together, and finds a puzzle on the blade, which was supposed to show who the Blue Fairy was disguised as so as she could make the sword into one whole object. The Blue Fairy turns out to be a waitress at a restaurant. After the sword is mended, Sabrina and Daphne fight the Jabberwocky, and in the end get their parents back. However, they could not be waken, as far as they know of, and Puck is getting weaker. Book 4 continues with saving Puck.
Book 4 Once Upon a Crime
Sabrina, Daphne, Relda, Mr. Canis and Hamstead travel to New York City to save Puck, to where Faerie Kingdom currently exists. After going through the statue of Hans Christian Andersen, they arrive at a bar called the Golden Egg, where past it lives the royal family, or Puck's parents. Sabrina and Daphne deliver Puck to Titania, the Queen, who is overwhelmed. But Oberon, the king, who had kicked Puck out was angered, and saying that humans and Puck was not needed in the kingdom. However, after the sisters Grimm are discovered as Veronica Grimm's daughters, the people of Faerie are overwhelmed. Sabrina and Daphne had thought for so long that Veronica was not involved in the family business, but she had been. Oberon then agrees to cure Puck, but Puck would still be be banished when he was healed and would have to leave Faerie afterwards. While the Faerie people were shaking hands and admiring Sabrina and Daphne, the shocking news comes that Oberon had been murdered. Sabrina and Daphne are asked to find the murderer and bring him to justice, with Moth, Puck's fianceé.
But before they took on the case, Sabrina and Daphne decided to learn more about their mother, which also may lead to clues about the murderer. Sabrina discovers that another family had moved into their apartment. However, she only found photographs, their mothers wallet, and letters in the house, and no journal. In the wallet, however, Sabrina discovers a business card of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man that appeared in A Christmas Carol, who could speak to the dead. This was proof that Veronica had been involved with Everafters and Sabrina realizes that she may be able to speak to the spirit of Oberon and ask him about who had kidnapped him. It turned out that Oberon had drank poisoned wine carried into his room by one of his sons, Cobweb.
Sabrina, thinking that Cobweb may be roaming about in an abandoned subway area, travels to a subway station controlled entirely by dwarfs. On their way in chasing Cobweb, they meet the Yahoos, who threw them off track. However, Cobweb turns out, pleading innocent. Sabrina, however, did not believe him and chased after him, which led Cobweb to fly to Liberty Island. But on their way to the island, their ship is ruined by pirates, and they have a fight with cannons. They narrowly ecape, with the help of Moth's pixies, but then Moth orders the pixies to use the cannon on Cobweb, who is killed. The sisters Grimm then come face to face with Mrs. Smirt, their caseworker, who believed that she could no longer leave them with Relda, thinking that she was the one who had caused the pirate war. Sabrina and Daphne are once again sent back to the filthy orphanage, but someone had decided already to take them in. But he turns out to be a person who had just gotten out of jail the day before, doing time for murdering seven people with a crowbar. Sabrina realizes that Cobweb couldn't have killed Oberon after hearing something their new "daddy" said—"You don't go back to help someone if you want to hurt them." It didn't make sense for him to kill someone he was so loyal to, especially since he came back to check on the sisters twice—not the actions of a guilty man. The girls are quickly rescued by Bess, Canis, and Hamstead. They head back to Faerie to tell Titania that Cobweb did not kill Oberon. Moth turns out to be the criminal; she poisoned Sabrina and revealed to the dying Sabrina that she killed Oberon and framed Cobweb because she wanted to marry Puck, which she couldn't do if Puck was sent away from Faerie. She framed Cobweb because he was the King's most loyal supporter. She poisoned Sabrina because Moth realized that Puck liked Sabrina—"You think you have his heart, don't you, human? Well, it's something you never should have had and I'm taking it back."—and Sabrina was the only one of the group (Titiana, Relda, Daphne, Sabrina, Moth, and Mustardseed)going to see Scrooge to talk to Cobweb's spirit that could talk to ghosts. If the queen found out the truth, Moth would, at least, be banished. Puck comes out of his cocoon just in time. Puck ends up saving Sabrina by puting her in her own cocoon. She quickly recovers. Sabrina, Daphne, Puck, Relda, Titania, Mustardseed, and the rest of the fairies attend Oberon's funeral. Puck is now officially the King of Faerie. Puck and Sabrina stay behind, talking. Puck tells Sabrina that his father originally didn't want Puck to rule Faerie—"When I was barely out of diapers he took me aside and told me I would never be king. He said I was a disappointment to him and he would never give up his throne to me."—and that it was Puck's mother, Titana, who gave him his title: The Trickster King. He tells her that he hated his father, because he "took every oppertunity to remind me that I was weak and stupid". After the funeral there is a fight between Bess's former boyfriend and Hamstead over Bess. Hamstead wins, but in the prosess reveals that he is one of the Three Little Pigs, a fact he had been trying to hide from Bess. He leaves, embarrased. Sabrina then goes with Puck, Daphne, and Relda to the Wizard of Oz, Veronica Grimm's self-proclaimed best friend, to find out more about her mother. They find their mother's journal, but Oz tries to stop them from taking the journal, revealing that he is part of the Scarlet Hand. He sets a mechanical Wicked Witch of the West on them but they manage to escape with the journal. Oz escapes in a hot air ballon. Sabrina finds her mother's speach that she was supposed to give to the Everafter population in New York the night she disappeared, and says the speach for her mother. After Sabrina gives her mother's speech to the Everafters, Sabrina, Daphne, Relda, and Canis go back to Ferryport Landing; Hamstead decides to stay with Bess to get married after Bess comes after Hamstead before he leaves and reveals herself to be The Cow That Jumped Over The Moon.
Since Puck was to be the new king everyone thought he was staying in Faerie to rule, In the end it turns out that Puck comes home with the Grimms and apparently brought a toy along with him in the form of the six-story high mechanical witch.
Book 5 Magic and Other Misdemeanors
Granny invites everyone who has ever been enchanted to the house to think of ways to wake Sabrina's parents. After the party, Baba Yaga claims that the Wand of Merlin has been stolen by Sabrina, and soon following the incident Morgan Le Fay says that a magic clock has been stolen and a vial of water from the fountain of youth has been stolen from Dr. P. Meanwhile, the Queen of Hearts, the new Mayor, is taxing all humans ridiculous sums of money, expecting them to move away and leaving Ferryport Landing a human-free town. Granny scrambles for $150 000, the tax money, and eventually finds some and turns it in, where Nottingham and Heart decide that they added wrong and they must pay $300,000 more! Not far from then, Sabrina sees an older version of Uncle Jake murdered on her front lawn, but as she calls for help, the strange Uncle Jake mysteriously disappears. They believe Sabrina had a nightmare. While Granny and Uncle Jake go to the bank to pay, Mr. Canis takes Sabrina and Daphne out into the forest for training and without knowing, Sabrina and Daphne are sucked into a tear in time. In the future Mr. Canis is now the Big Bad Wolf, but before he can kill them the future Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck save them. Prince Charming has been here for 3 months, which explains his disappearance. The future Sabrina tells Sabrina that she will soon be married to Puck, and Puck will decide to grow up to live with Sabrina, much to her annoyance. The world has been taken over by the Scarlet Hand, and has been like this for 15 years. Charming, Sabrina, and Daphne escape back to the present in hopes of trying to change the future. Granny has once again enough money to pay the tax from a garage sale. While Sabrina and Daphne solve the case they uncover that Cindy's husband, Tom, stole the items. He's been combining them and trying to make himself live forever. They stop him and hopefully have changed the future. Later during the night, the Scarlet Hand comes to the Grimm's house to arrest Mr. Canis. At a last moment before the arrival of the Scarlet hand, Prince Charming tells Sabrina that he does what he does for a reason. What he does happens to be joining the Scarlet Hand. Why? To be continued in Tales From The Hood…
Book 6 Tales from the Hood
The book opens with Sabrina waking up from a crazy dream. She figures now would be a good time for one of her late night beauty sessions, which she regrets. Before she leaves she discovers a leprochan in the toilet! After the whole family is called into the bathroom, Puck explains now that the Wolf is gone, he sets up bodyguards all over the house. The next day, they visit Mr. Canis in the jail via flying capet, but before they go there, they make a stop to Robin Hood and ask him to be the lawyer in their side of Mr. Canis' trial. After one month of not letting the family in, Nottingham finally agrees, giving them a chance to "say goodbye". They are shocked to find Mr. Canis is almost gone, and the wolf is even stronger! The girls decide to investigate by reading "Little Red Riding Hood", The Wolf's most famous story. They find it is very gory, and Sabrina begins to question their safety with Mr. Canis around. Granny is furious, and sends Sabrina to her room. Everybody becomes angry at her. Later, Daphne and Uncle Jake come around, telling her that she can help them look for Goldilocks. When they discover that Goldilocks is staying at a hotel called Hotel Cipriani, Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck make their way to the local library, which is run by the Scarecrow (from Wizard Of Oz). After some commotion, the Scarecrow says that Goldilocks is in Venice, a city in Italy. Before they leave, they meet Bluebeard and Snow White. As the trial starts, they find that the jury is made of scarlet hand members, including a mysterious figure in a hood. Mr. Canis, just a bit short of becoming the Wolf completely, is chained off to the side. The judge, to their dismay, is The Mad Hatter, a completlely nonsensical man. Bluebeard is cast as the prosecuting attorney, and calls Boarman and Swineheart to the witness stand first. They don't say what Bluebeard expects them to; They stand up for Mr. Canis, claiming to have unlimited respect for him. The Mad Hatter announces that the trial will continue tomorrow. Outside, Sabrina asks Boarman and Swineheart about when and how the "secret weapon" (used to take down The Wolf) works. They explain when and how they used it, but are very vague. They do not mention what the weapon is, but they do say it might stop the Wolf and help Mr. Canis regain some control.
Granny suggests that Sabrina and Daphne get some well-needed rest. They make their way to the bedroom. Once Daphne falls asleep, Sabrina notices something around Daphne's neck; the key to the weapon. The next day, Uncle Jake borrows a magical traveler's chest from the Anderson Triplets. Uncle Jake tells the chest to go to the hotel where Goldilocks is staying. They find she is being chased by someone in a black jacket and pants. As the strange man takes her on his motorcycle, Daphne, Sabrina, and Uncle Jake follow her. While Goldilocks and the man passes over a bridge, she talks to a couple of birds, which save her while she jumps over the bridge. Sabrina hadn't known she could talk to animals. They soon discover that the man is from the scarlet hand, and wants her to not come in contact with goldilocks, as she is the only one who can wake her parents. As the trial continues, Bluebeard gets more and more outrageous witnesses. Madd Hatter Concludes again that the trial will conclude the next day. The family soon realizes, that because the Mad Hatter won't give them a chance to speak, there is only one witness who they had not thought of yet; Little Red Riding Hood.They question her, but get fuzzy details from what happened when the Wolf killed Red's grandmother. On another trip to the jail, robin Hood decides to take Beauty with him, who has a good control over beasts. They get more details out of Mr. Canis, but is cut short when he figures out that someone is messing with his mind. Nottingham appears and charges at Beauty, but Little John punches him in the face. Beauty experiments and finds she can hypnotize humans as well, and she makes Nottingham forget the whole incident. After the long day, Sabrina and Daphne get to sleep. But Sabrina spots the chain around Daphne's neck, and she steals Daphne's key and makes her way to the bank, where the weapon is kept. She discovers it is closed, and at a loss of what to do, decides to break in. She finds a rock and throws it at the glass window. Sabrina expects to hear the sound of glass breaking and the alarm sounding, but instead finds Puck has followed her. He explains that he was keeping an eye on her, but in the end, just helps her break in. They find the secret weapon, which turns out to be a kazoo. Sabrina is in disbelief until she blows into it and makes the bank disappears. Puck simply says, "Well, if you don't want it, I'll take it." After that, they get home and in the morning, Puck has handcuffed himself to Sabrina. She demands him to give her the key, but he just swallows it. Sabrina gives up and does research with Granny Relda and Daphne for the trial. They decide to search for the woodcutter in Red's story. They find a list which had all the Everafters in the town on it, but the phone rings and says they have to make their way to the court.
While they are driving to the court, the family discovers that the bank has disappears, Daphne pulls Sabrina aside and tells her she was right-that they should have gotten the weapon earlier. Sabrina feels very guilty, and even more so when Puck glares at her. When Sabrina is stuck sleeping in Puck's room, he lectures her on lying and stealing from Daphne. After an hour of silence, he admits that she doesn't need makeup. Sabrina is horified. They discover who the woodcutter is, and find out he is full of himself. Puck uses his ability to change shape and a little fairygod mother magic to transform into the big bad wolf, scaring the truth out of the woodcutter.
As you might know from book three, little red riding hood was insane. Her parents couldn't take it anymore, so they sent her through the woods with food for her "sick" grandmother, hoping the grandmother can cure her insanity. She could do this because she is a witch! She had a kazoo called the northwind. She had captured a rabid wolf, and when she blew the kazoo at him, his rabidness left him, and she caught it in a jar. Little red riding hood then arrived. Meanwhile, not one, but two woodcutters are in the forest. Our so called hero, and his teacher, Tobias Clay. Tobias hears screams coming from the woods and wants to check it out, but our "hero" doesn't want to. Tobias convinces him to go. When they arrive, Tobias wrestles the Grandma, assuming she's hurting the child. He accidentley breaks the jar, and *boom*, he's the big bad wolf. Tobias clay is Mr. Canis.
Read the book to find out what happens.
Characters
Major characters
- Sabrina Grimm - The protagonist of the series, Sabrina Grimm is a bullheaded and somewhat stubborn young girl whose parents were kidnapped by a mysterious group known as The Scarlet Hand when she was only eleven years old. After this event, she and her sister are moved around from foster family to foster family until they are eventually adopted by their grandmother Relda Grimm. Sabrina does not trust her grandmother, as her father claimed her to be dead, in the beginning of the first book until an encounter with a giant proves that the Everafters of the town do exist. Sabrina often discludes Daphne in her attempts at rescuing their parents. Sabrina has been in many "fights" with Puck who she seems to be in love with after Book Three where they shared their first kiss.(This is further shown in Book Five when Sabrina and Daphne get sucked into the future she finds out she will someday marry Puck.) She has a craving for magic (as mainly seen in Book Three) which she must control carefully. Sabrina calls herself The Queen of Sneaks since she is an expert when it comes to escaping from houses. She is blonde and has blue eyes.
- Daphne Grimm - Sabrina Grimm's sister, who's passion is to become a fairy-tale detective, much to the displeasure of her older sister. Funny and outgoing, Daphne had to get used to her older sister taking charge. Daphne is well protected by her older sister, but learns to take care of herself after her first karate class with Snow White in Book Three. Daphne has black hair which she keeps in pigtails. She is very jolly and somewhat gullible but can turn snobby and sassy sometimes. She always seems to have a new word each week, creating a new language called "Daphne-ish". She is a very heavy sleeper, so Granny Relda must wake her up with banging a wooden spoon against a pot. In Book 6 Daphne tries acting grown-up which severely irritates Sabrina. Sabrina later steals from her and makes Daphne extremely upset at her since she saw Sabrina as her role model. This causes Daphne to move out of their room.
- Relda Grimm - Sabrina and Daphne Grimm's grandmother, who was thought to be dead. She is rather eccentric and strange, seeing that she loves cooking very odd dishes from around the world and has books covering practically her entire house. Relda encourages the girls to help their neighbors, and not discriminate against Everafters. She was married to Basil Grimm and had two sons, Henry Grimm and Jacob Grimm. One of her closest and dearest friends is Mr. Canis (The Big Bad Wolf) who acts as the family's bodyguard.
- Jacob "Jake" Grimm - The Sisters Grimm's uncle, who first appears in Book Three. He stayed home and watched the house when the other Grimms took Puck to find his family. In Book Five he helps Sabrina and Daphne solve their case. He is often described as girl-crazy and falls for Briar Rose. He doesn't seem to have a chance with her, though. This is because of Briar Rose's two over-protective fairy godmothers, Buzzflower and Mallobarb. In the end of book 4, he gets addicted to magic (like Sabrina) and almost killed all of the everafters. In Book 6, they had made it clear to Uncle Jake that until he gets his hair cut and becomes royalty, he cannot date Brair. During most of the sixth book, he is using Mirror to track down Goldilocks. Jake is described as tall, with blue eyes and blonde hair.
- Elvis - the Grimm family's 200-pound Great Dane, who is very protective of Daphne. A recurring theme in the books is that he reacts badly to sausage; when the Grimms travel to New York in "Once Upon a Crime" their uncle Jake Grimm accidentally feeds him sausage, and is forced to move out of the house for days.
- Mr. Canis, The Big Bad Wolf - Mr. Canis is The Big Bad Wolf from fairy-tale lore, although a much more sinister character than his other fictional representations. He is actually a literal Wolf-in-Sheeps-Closing, as he spends most of his time in a human form. While in his human for he is a wholly different person, but he is constantly at odds with the wolf, and dedicates many hours to keeping the wolf "inside". He has become Relda Grimms personal bodyguard to atone for his past crimes, and shows heavy dedication to her and her family. Although most of his fellow Ever-After's hate him for associating and protecting the Grimms, he does not seem bothered by their anger at him.
In " The Fairy-Tale Detectives" he is forced to transform into his wolf form in order to protect Relda, Sabrina, and Daphne from Jack the giant killer, and (although he loses in the end and has to be saved by Puck) he does manage to get a taste of Jack's blood, making it the first time he has tasted human blood in hundreds of years, and making his inner battle with the wolf all the harder. He spends most of "The Unusual Suspects" trying to control his inner-beast, although he does accompany the family to the school and help them fight of the frog-girl that attacks them there. Near the end of The Unusual Suspects he appears to die when Rumpelstiltskin tries to use him (or, more specifically, his anger) to blow a hole in Baba Yaga's barrier and allow the Ever-Afters to escape Ferryport Landing. The Wolf turns on him and the two appear to perish when the school and the tunnels below it explode. Thus, Mr. Canis is absent during most of "The Problem Child". However, near the end of the book it is revealed that he actually survived the explosion when he returns during Puck's battle with Little Red Riding Hood and the Jabberwocky. However, he was severely damaged: his control over the Big Bad Wolf was weakening, and he could not fully complete his transformation to human form, keeping many wolf-like features (such as his tail). He tells the girls that he had planned to kill himself, to stop the wolf from hurting other people, but that he must stay alive as long as the girls need him. In "Once Upon a Crime" He accompanies The Grimms and Sherrif Hamstead to Manhattan to find Puck's kin-folk. During this adventure his control over the wolf weakens steadily: he gains twenty pounds of muscle, begins to grow whiskers and cannot control his temper (leading to him very nearly attacking Moth). At the end of the book Hamstead gives Sabrina and Daphne a magical weapon which he instructs them to use on the Wolf if he gets out of control. In Book Five Mr. Canis is drawing nearer to loosing complete control of himself. When Sabrina and Daphne get sucked into the future they encounter him and are almost killed. When they return home it becomes clear that they will be needing the weapon soon. At the end of the book Mr. Canis is arrested by Sheriff Nottingham, followed by many of the the members of the Scarlet Hand. In Book Six Mr. Canis is on trial for the past crimes he committed. The Grimm family, on a desperate search to declare him innocent, begins unraveling his surprising past. They soon discover that Mr. Canis was once a woodcutter named Tobias Clay who went to investigate a little cottage after he heard screaming. He found that the house was home to a witch conducting a strange experiment on a rabid wolf. When Little Red Riding Hood appeared Canis was convinced she was in danger and goes to rescue her. Using a magical kazoo, the grandmother sucks out the rabid wolf's insanity which flies into Mr. Canis transforming him in the Big Bad Wolf. He eat's Red Riding Hood's grandmother, but manages to gain control of himself for a few seconds to tell Red to escape. Hundreds of years later The Three Pigs stole the weapon from the Wolf and use it on him. He turned back into a man and stayed that way until he fought with Jack the Giant Killer and tasted his blood. The jury declares Canis guilty and the next day he is scheduled to be hanged. However, Robin Hood and his men set him free right before he turns completely back into the Wolf. He races off to kill Howard Hatchett, his former woodcutter apprentice who sees himself as the hero who saved Red Riding Hood, when in actuality he was hiding the whole time. Daphne uses the kazoo on him, releasing his madness which, after going into Sabrina, is finally captured in a jar. Mr. Canis, now completely free of the Wolf, then goes into hiding with Prince Charming, Snow White, and Robin Hood and his men.
- Puck, The Trickster King - Created by William Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Puck is a main character in the Sister's Grimm series. He lives in Ferryport Landing like all other Ever-Afters, but unlike them does not seem to mind the barrier spell keeping him imprisoned there. Mischief can be caused in a small town as well as anywhere else in the world, and, as Puck himself puts it: "As long as I'm ruining somebody's day, I'm happy". When Sabrina and Daphne Grimm try to run away from Relda Grimm's house in "The Fairy-Tale Detectives" Puck sends his army of Pixies (small, green, firefly-like creatures) to attack them in the spirit of mischief. Later, he sends his army to save them from Sherrif Hamstead, only to force them into his hideout and pretend to attempt to drown them. He reveals that he is angry at the sisters for "stealing" the old lady (Relda Grimm) from him, and that she used to let him into her house and give him a meal or two, despite his mischievous nature. Upon learning that Relda and Mr. Canis have been kidnapped by a giant, the boy decides to help them: Not, he assures them, out of good will, but because if he doesn't his free meals will disappear. However, when Sabrina and Daphne rescue Jack the Giant Killer from prison Puck begins to feel that he is not needed anymore and, after angrily warning them not to trust Jack, storms out of the house. He re-appears at the end of the book, and using his pixies, saves Mr. Canis from Jack. The Fairy-Tale Detectives ends with Relda informing the girls that Puck is going to move into the house with them.
Puck's character has many particular quirks that tie in with him being a Faerie. He carries around a wooden sword which he uses to fight, although the sword usually does nothing more than annoy his enemy. He has the ability to shape-shift into any form he chooses, and he has two large insect-like wings that he can voluntarily extend from his back. Although he constantly refers to himself as "A Villain of the Worst Kind" he has never actually been portrayed as the antagonist of a story. By making him feel like he's the leader, Sabrina and Daphne can trick him into doing tasks for them, showing his enormous ego. He also is somewhat of a chauvinist, telling Daphne and Sabrina to stay behind and "do women's work" while he fights the giant. He is also quite stubborn, leading Daphne to often compare him to Sabrina. In "The Unusual Suspects" he has a much bigger role (even appearing on the book's cover). Relda decides that he must accompany Sabrina to her school to be her bodyguard, and thus forces him to take a bath, comb his hair, and brush his teeth, transforming him into a somewhat attractive young-man. Even Sabrina is forced to admit that he is cute, (this is the beginning of an unsteady relationship between them, and even includes a kiss). He accompanies Sabrina to school, and ends up getting into an argument with her that ends with the two of them and Daphne almost drowning. He tries to protect the group from The Big Bad Wolf when he is unleashed upon them underground, however, he simply makes the wolf angrier, fueling Rumpelstiltskins power. The Wolf tells Puck that love will be the end of him, motioning to Sabrina. He has shaggy blonde hair, but his eye color is unclear; in book two he is described with green eyes, while in book five he is described to have "a shaggy head of hair, blue eyes, and a devilish smile". His room in Relda's house (built by the Ferrytown police department and Glinda the Good Witch) is more or less a child's fantasy with an open sky, a rollercoaster, an ice-cream truck, and a boxing mat (occupied by a kangaroo). During book 3, "The Problem Child" he kisses Sabrina and tells the Grimms that he is going to stop saving their lives and go back to being a villain, but relents when the family is attacked by the Jabberwocky. During his battle with the monster, his wings get ripped off, mortally wounding him. In the fourth book, the family manages to escape to New York where Puck's family is living beneath Central Park, trying - in vain - to rebuild the kingdom they had before they moved to America. Puck's father is temperamental and apparently hates his son, who is the rightful heir to the throne of Faerie. Sabrina and Daphne have to promise to help the king (Oberon) regain the affection of the New York Everafter community in order to receive medical treatment for Puck, who is then placed in a gooey, floating pod with strong, magical medicinal properties. It is revealed during his time within the pod that the person he trusts most in the entire world is Sabrina, much to the anger and consternation of his fiancee, a fairy girl known as Moth. Once Puck awakens, it becomes obvious very quickly that the marriage of Puck and Moth is never going to happen (as obvious as it was before). When Oberon is found dead and Puck has been cured, he is declared the King of Faerie, and he seems to take to his new royal position happily, much to Sabrina's sadness. However, readers see his return to Ferryport Landing along with the Grimms at the end of the fourth book. In the 5 book Puck starts to show small signs of growing up. Sabrina and Daphne are sucked into the future and find out Puck grows up at the same rate as Sabrina and eventually marries her. In the sixth book, Puck handcuffs himself to Sabrina since she doesn't want the help of any of his bodyguards he set up around the house. He also admits that he doesn't think Sabrina needs make-up because he thinks she is pretty, but quickly follows this remark by insulting her.
Other Characters
- Sheriff Hamstead - One of the three little pigs in the barn of life. Only, they aren't so little anymore they are really really fabulous. He is the Ferryport landing sheriff in books one and two sand for most of book three, four, five, and six, and is a good friend of the Grimms uncle. When the family travels to New Jersey in the fourth book seeking medical treatment for Puck the pucky duck, he goes with them. Due to falling in love with another Everafter (Bess, aka, the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon) while in the Big Apple, he does not return to Ferryport Landing at the end of the fourth book. Instead, he and Bess are planning their honeymoon (perhaps Hawaii or Paris).
- Mayor Charming - He's the not so charming mayor of Ferryport landing. He is very rude and arrogant, but does let up and ask the Grimms for help. The handsome man will do anything for his would-be wife, Snow White, whom he has not talked to for 200 years. His greatest desire is to rebuild the kingdom he lost coming to America from Europe. In the 3rd book, he loses the Mayorship to the Queen of Hearts. At the end of "Magic and Other Misedeanors" he betrays the Grimms and joins The Scarlet Hand to save Snow White. In the Sixth Book he is part of the jury for Mr. Canis's trial. During the execution of Mr. Canis he rescues Snow White from Bluebeard and explains to her that that was what he had been trying to do all along. At the end of the book he goes into hiding with Robin Hood and his men, Snow White, and Mr. Canis, who seems to be on a better terms with him now.
- Snow White - The fairest of them all is now Daphne Grimm's 2nd grade teacher, teaches a self-defense group called "The Bad Apples",and has a lot of power over Mayor Charming. She has a great deal of affection for Relda Grimm, and takes offense when any of the other Everafters (especially Charming) act cruelly or harshly towards them.In book 5 when Charming goes missing for over 3 months, she is devastated.
- The Queen of Hearts - This queen who is in desperate need of anger-management makes it clear that she wants Mayor Charming's throne in book 3 "The Problem Child" She is in the scarlet hand.
- Little Red Riding Hood - This little girl isn't so innocent anymore. After the whole episode with the "Big Bad Wolf" a.k.a. Mr. Canis Little Red Riding Hood's parents disappeared causing her to go insane. Since then she has obsessively trying to remake the family she lost. Little Red Riding Hood kidnapped Sabrina's and Daphnie's parents for this purpose and with her pet "kitty" a.k.a the Jabberwocky she hopes to steal Granny Relda's Great Dane called Elvis, as her dog and Granny Relda as her replacement grandmother. Somewhere along the way, she has also kidnapped a baby (presumably a boy), but the infant does not appear in the first four books. At the end of "The Problem Child" it is revealed that Little Red Riding Hood is not the leader of The Scarlet Hand. But she offers to let them "play" with her. In the sixth book, Daphne uses the secret weapon from Sheriff Hamstead to cure her craziness. At the end of book 6, it is decided that Red is going to live with the Grimms.
- Mirror( From Snow White) - The well known mirror from the story of Snow White. He keeps track of all of the magical instruments and things that have fallen into the hands of the Grimm family over the years, and he stores them within his mirror in a place called The Hall of Wonders. He, Sabrina and Daphne become good friends. At the beginning of book 5, The Hall of Wonders is used for helping Sabrina and Daphne with their escape training. In book 6, he helps the Grimms track Goldilocks, the key to waking up Sabrina and Daphne's parents.
Awards
The Sisters Grimm series received many honors, including the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award, and theKirkus Best Fantasy Book award. The series is also a New York Times bestseller.