The Gospel Cinderella is a story that is written in the same style as the classic Cinderella story but has a slight twist to it. Mother Rhythm loses her daughter when a hurricane hits and the baby is found by the evil foster mother. The foster mother has two daughters who all bully and torment her but she never complains. When they hear that a singing competition is being hosted by Mother Rhythm they all go to it and sing except for Cinderella. The evil foster mother sent Cinderella away but eventually Cinderella made an appearance and sang from the very back. Mother Rhythm sent her people to go find Cinderella and Mother Rhythm was able to reconnect with her lost daughter. This was a different version of Cinderella that I have never read or heard before but i enjoyed it. ( )

This story was written in the same style as the classic Cinderella story but it is a very unique version. Mother Rhythm loses her daughter when a Hurricane hits. The baby is found by evil Foster Mother. The girl is tormented by evil Foster Mother and her two daughters. Mother Rhythm hosts a singing competition which leads to her finding her long lost daughter. I was not expecting such a different version of this classic fairy tale but I really enjoyed it. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this version of Cinderella. In Thomas's book, Queen Mother Rhythm is the leader of the Great Gospel Choir and she has a baby girl who she sings to every day. A hurricane sweeps her baby girl away and she doesn't see her again. The baby girl ends up being discovered by Crooked Foster Mother who already has twin girls of her own, Hennie and Minnie. Just as in most versions of Cinderella, the Crooked Foster mother and stepsisters treat the baby girl, Cinderella, terribly. She does all the cooking, and cleaning, and is never given praise or respect. When Queen Mother Rhythm wants to retire, they hold a singing competition to find the next leader. Of course Cinderella makes her way there, wows everyone, and disappears. The Queen sends her runners to find the mystery voice and they discover it is Cinderella and she is reunited with her loving, soulful, and singing mother. I loved the southern writing and the nods to alligators, hurricanes, and gospel culture which is so prevalent in the south. The book read beautifully and the illustrations added a rich level with their stylized images. I could picture and hear this book come alive while reading. ( )

The Gospel Cinderella had a different twist from the traditional Cinderella stories. Instead of Cinderella being in search of her prince charming, she is in search of being in a Gospel choir. The setting of this fairytale is deep in the swamps. Cinderella had been inadvertently dropped into the running swamp by her mother who was the queen and leader of the Gospel singing choir. Cinderella was later found by another mother and her 2 girls where Cinderella spent years doing all of the dirty work for them. As cinderella wandered in the forest singing she saw signs of Gospel choir tryouts. Once the evil mother got word of the choir tryouts she forced cinderella to teach her daughters sing. They were terrible singers. As the tryout date approached the evil stepmother made cinderella stay back to do chores as her and her daughters set out. Cinderella was determined to try out. She went out into the gator infested swamp picking flowers and accessories. She soon made it while the prince auditioned dozens for the lead part. Cinderella was beautifully covered so no one noticed her as she began to sing. After she finished she ran home so that her stepmother wouldn't know. Soon the prince set out to every village where he eventually found cinderella. Cinderella left with the prince (who was her brother) where she later realized that the queen of Gospel was her real mother. I enjoyed the twist to this cinderella fairytale ( )

I loved this version of cinderella! This version is about a black queen of rhythm who is known for her singing. She loses her child in a hurricane and her baby daughter gets swept away to her evil stepmother and sisters. It's time for the queen to retire so she has a singing convention and it's pretty much a contest of who will become the princess of rhythm. Cinderella sneaks off to perform and gets the whole crowds attention as she sings like an angel, but before her evil family could recognize her she runs off home. The prince goes to each house hearing everyone sing to find this mystery singer and finally finds Cinderella in the back of the house painting. Cinderella is now the princess of rhythm and reunited with her mother. I really loved this version of Cinderella, because its different from the typical glass slipper and ball dance story. ( )