I wanted to know why my middle-schoolers are all clamoring for this series--and now I understand. It blends eight original fairy tale (and by "original" I mean "the gory versions Grimm wrote") with Hansell & Gretel, highlighting the awfulness of their parents and the repercussions that would have. Toss in a slightly snarky narrator and you have gold: Funny, appropriately gory, lightly dark, and a long adventure--this has "10yo boy" written all over it. 
 I might pick up the rest of the series, when I get even a little caught up on my reading.