My Very UnFairy Tale Life Books in Order

This series takes the idea of a fairy tale hero and gives the job to a tired, sarcastic twelve-year-old who would really like a day off. Jenny is an official adventurer, which means she gets sent into magical kingdoms to fix disasters, rescue creatures, and clean up the kind of messes that usually happen before someone gets a happily ever after.

The joke, and the heart of the books, is that Jenny is not dazzled by any of it. She knows sparkly fairy tale stories leave out the annoying parts, the dangerous parts, and the exhausting parts. She has monsters to fight, kingdoms to save, and regular life waiting back home, where homework and friendships have not gotten any easier just because she has been traveling between enchanted realms.

She is brave, but she is also very over it.

The first book, My Very UnFairy Tale Life, introduces Jenny at the moment she is ready to quit. Then Prince Charming shows up needing help, and her plan for a normal life falls apart. The fun comes from that constant tug between wanting ordinary kid problems and getting dragged into extraordinary ones.

The series grows from there. In My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, Jenny heads to the Land of Tales, faces an evil witch, and takes on impossible tasks while trying to learn what happened to her missing parents. My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending raises the stakes again, as Jenny goes up against the Queen Fairy and gets closer to the answers she has been chasing.

Even with all the magic, the books are easy to read because the emotions are familiar. Jenny wants her friends to understand her, wants grown-ups to stop making decisions for her, and wants some control over a life that never stays calm for long. Staniszewski writes the fantasy with a wink, so unicorns, talking frogs, and royal drama feel playful rather than precious.

Read the trilogy in order, because Jenny's story has a real arc and the mystery around her parents carries through all three books. If you like fairy tales but also like heroines who roll their eyes at fairy tales, this series is a good place to start.