The Salamander Spell is about Princess Emma's mother, Chartreuse, and her Aunt Grassina, when they were girls. Grassina meets her beloved, and Chartreuse meets Emma's father. We also learn how Emma's grandmother fell under the family curse and her grandfather became a ghost. I could feel sorry for Chartreuse, whose dreams of coming into her magic were dashed, if she hadn't been so nasty to her younger sister.

Instead of a bat as our heroine's friend, we get a green snake named Pippa.

Grassina has to face monsters before and after her magic awakens. We who have already read Once Upon a Curse know why Grassina finding the Swamp Fairy might or might not have been a good thing. ( )

Darling doodlebug! so funny! ( )

Even fluffier than Emma's stories. Part of it is - this is Grassina and Chartreuse's story, and how Olivene was hit by the curse. And since, if you've read Emma's books, you already know not only this story (though not all the details) but how it eventually comes out - it's kind of...predetermined. Some of the details are cute, like Grassina liking the swamp as much as Emma does (and for some of the same reasons), or how she and Haywood met (and why she's so sappy in love with him). Some are annoying - young Chartreuse is very much like the girl that got the original curse, in her treatment of her sister and her suitors. But mostly it's rather dull, and therefore a very quick read. ( )

Great to learn the backstory of Grassina, Chartreuse, Olivine, Hayward, et al. I was a little frustrated that there's still a gap in the history of Greater Greensward, and Chartreuse's character is a bit underdeveloped, but the series still charms and I'm planning to read every entry as fast as my library buys them. At the same time, I admit I'm going to want something meatier pretty soon. After all, I'm not 10 years old! ( )

Grassina is expected to marry a prince, but her family encounters many troubles along the way. Her mother becomes cursed and turned into a hag and loses her Green Witch Title and is no longer able to protect her town. Grassina hears the werewolves are heading to town and it is up to Grassina to help her family and save the town.

This is a good prequel to the Frog Princess stories and it gives the characters more depth than the Frog Princess tells us.

The students can discuss the things that Grassina can do to help the town and what she can do to help her mother. They can draw their conclusions to the next book or what they feel will heppen next.