The Looking Glass Wars

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade fantasy/sci-fi
• Originally Published: 2006
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1010L; grades 6-9
• Structure/Length: 56 chapters; approx. 360 pages; approx. 8 hours, 45 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: In the “real” Wonderland, Alyss Heart flees her murderous aunt who has killed her parents and stolen the throne, finding herself in the alternate world of Victorian London, where she is alone and unable to defend the kingdom.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Some violence

Frank Beddor, Author

• Bio: Born 1958; world champion freestyle  skier; co-produced the movies There’s Something About Mary and Wicked; lives in Los Angeles
• Other Works: Seeing Redd: The Looking Glass Wars, Book Two (2008); ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars, Book Three (2010)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Importance of Emotional Balance in Using Forces of Creation and Destruction
• Belief as a Tool of Empowerment
• Identity and Responsibility Beyond the Individual

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the historical and literary contexts of Lewis Carroll and his 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that drive Beddor’s re-imagining of characters, setting, and plot.
• Analyze short, paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Importance of Emotional Balance, Belief as a Tool of Empowerment, and Identity and Responsibility Beyond the Individual.
• Create and present a Character Looking Glass Maze that connects to characterization, conflict, symbols, and themes based on text details.  

Analyze and evaluate the plot and characters in structured essay responses to make connections between Alyss and Redd as character foils, Alyss’s place in the hero’s journey, and other topics.