Danielle Paige, author of Dorothy Must Die, shares her favorite Oz versions.
It was a thrill for me to write Dorothy Must Die. As a fan of the books, Oz felt like sacred ground. But stepping onto The Yellow Brick Road I saw a million other possibilities stretching out in front of me, some darker and twistier than the Oz we are used to, and I couldn’t resist. Here are some other trips down the Yellow Brick Road that I love.
The Wizard of Oz (1939, movie)
I was smitten from the very first notes of “Over the Rainbow.” The movie is just perfection. I have seen it so many times it’s almost embarrassing. It’s epic and timeless. And I still literally stop whatever I’m doing and watch when I see it on screen, because it’s just that good.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of The West (1995, book)
Love! I bow to Gregory Maguire! Recasting the Wicked Witch of the West as truly misunderstood, instead of evil, was just a stroke of genius. And the musical is just as satisfying. (I was lucky enough to see it on Broadway with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Just a fabulous production.)
Return to Oz (1985, movie)
It borrows so many deliciously creepy and quirky details from the Baum Books and makes up some new ones of its own. Seeing Mombi and her closet of interchangeable heads floored me.
Tin Man (2007, tv miniseries)
The adorable Zooey Deschanel as DG, a descendant of Dorothy, drawn into the SyFy miniseries version of Oz complete with androids and a shape-shifting Toto! One complaint: not a stitch of gingham on Zooey!
The Wiz (1978, movie)
Just total 70’s fun! Oz looks a lot like New York City. It’s star studded and unapologetic with a young Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Diana Ross as Dorothy, and Sidney Lumet directing. And try to get the songs out of your head. “Ease on Down the Road” is so catchy. And “Home” is just one of my all time favorites. (When Kristin Chenoweth sang it on Glee a few years ago, I was so happy!)
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013, movie)
I love a prequel, and this one's visually stunning as well. The character of the Wizard has always fascinated me. He is a study of reinvention—figuring out what makes him tick and how he navigates the world of Oz with a slippery moral compass is inspiring.
Amy Gumm thought life was tough in the trailer park with her druggie, depressed mother and the mean girls in school. But that was before—before she was carried to Oz by a tornado, before she was rescued by a series of strange individuals, and before she was instructed, Dorothy must die. Sweet Dorothy returned to Oz only to rule it with an evil, greedy hand, gradually stealing all its magic for herself. Amy, also from Kansas and arriving on a tornado, has to reverse the earthling’s power by killing her. Paige has spirited readers back to The Wizard of Oz, fracturing the already strange classic by having good and wicked witches exchange places, amputating the flying monkeys’ wings, and creating a fear-eating lion, a nefarious Dr. Jekyll scarecrow, and a vicious tin soldier. Amy’s assignment? Navigate through magical defenses, while struggling with her own values of good and evil, to get to Dorothy. It’s a classic made more sinister and will be continued in a subsequent volume. Grades 8-10. --Frances Bradburn
Review
“Readers of Baum’s books will take special delight in seeing new twists on the old characters, and they will greet the surprise climactic turnabout with the smugness of insiders.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Dorothy Must Die is kind of the ultimate in girl-powered literature. You’ve got empowered heroines, sure, but Paige also conjures a formidable villainess in Dorothy and some manipulative lady revolutionaries. Here, women and girls are allowed to be anything. This really is a woman’s world.” — Nerdist.com
“Gone are the days of rainbows, Lollipop Guilds and pretty much anything to sing about in a major key. For those willing to go on a quest with a heroine more attuned to our times than the Dust Bowl era, there’s no place like it.” — USA Today
“Debut author Paige doesn’t hold back in this fast-paced action novel. Give this cinematic upper-YA novel to fans of A. G. Howard’s Splintered, Frank Beddor’s Looking Glass Wars, and TV shows such as Once Upon a Time and Grimm.” — School Library Journal
“Paige delivers a solid, intense, and strange narrative that draws deeply on its source material.” — Publishers Weekly
“[Dorothy Must Die] strikes a similar tone to Marisa Meyer’s Cinder series, with its blend of fantasy, humor, and horror, and it will likely inspire fans of that series to make their way to the Emerald City.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Paige has spirited readers back to The Wizard of Oz. It’s a classic made more sinister.” — ALA Booklist
“For anyone who likes a good story turned on its head, Dorothy Must Die is a must-read.” — Huffington Post
“The Wizard of Oz as you’ve never seen it.” — Teen Vogue
“Paige’s world building is intriguing and effectively augments the original world created by L. Frank Baum.” — ALA Booklist
From the Back Cover
I didn't ask for any of this.
I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. But I never expected Oz to look like this. A place where Good Witches can't be trusted and Wicked Witches just might be the good guys. A place where even the yellow brick road is crumbling. What happened? Dorothy.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and I've been given a mission:
Remove
the Tin Woodman's heart,
Steal
the Scarecrow's brain,
Take
the Lion's courage,
And then—
Dorothy must die.
About the Author
Danielle Paige is a graduate of Columbia University and the author of the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series. Before turning to young adult literature, she worked in the television industry, where she received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She currently lives in New York City.
