NOTE to Judy Garland fans:

As stated earlier, nothing in ‘The Hidden Chronicles of Oz’ comes from any Oz-related book written by anyone other than L. Frank Baum.  Nothing comes from any of the stage plays or motion pictures based on Oz themes.

This means that ‘The Hidden Chronicles of Oz’ reflect nothing original to the famous motion picture staring Judy Garland (1922-1969). That 1939 film differed in very significant ways from Baum’s book—most especially by being set more than a generation later, and by making Oz turn out to be nothing but Judy Garland’s dream. 

Oz is a real place in the Baum books, and it is in The Mysterious Tintype of Oz and all of the books in ‘The Hidden Chronicles of Oz’.

The Judy Garland movie also featured hired hands on Uncle Henry’s farm, and a mean old lady making trouble in Kansas.  None of this was in Baum's book. Uncle Henry was dirt poor and couldn't have afforded employees. Part of the original story was left out in that film as well.

Those who have only seen Oz-based movies and have never read the original book, should remember that Baum’s story was written in 1899, and was about a small orphan girl on a very poor farm, and she was younger than Judy Garland was in the film. Our Dorothy, like Baum’s, was actually carried to the marvelous land of Oz by a tornado, and while there, she vanquished two cruel witches with the help of a scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion. And she returned home with the help of a pair of magical silver shoes (not ruby slippers).

Significantly, the first story in the new series, The Mysterious Tintype of Oz, tells where and how Dorothy Gayle became an orphan—later we even learn why—but you must read Tintype to begin unraveling the mysteries behind these facts.  Here is a bit of the prelude:

The Mysterious Tintype of Oz

Prelude: San Francisco, 1973

Eight-year-old Jeremy lay on the shag rug of the family-room, intent on the television set before him.

A fanfare boomed, the film was over. He got up and turned off the TV.

He hurried over to his great-grandmother, who was sitting in a rocking chair nearby.

“Thanks for letting me see The Wizard of Oz again, Gran-gran. You’re my favorite babysitter. I won’t tell Mom an’ get you into trouble.”

The boy winked at her, then plopped down cross-legged on the floor before her. “Mom was afraid those flying monkeys would give me nightmares. But you know Ripley won’t let me have bad dreams anymore.”

He nodded toward a place next to him occupied by his imaginary friend.

“You told me before that you liked the Oz books better,” his great-grandmother said. “After seeing the movie again, do you still think that?”

“Oh, I love the movie, but, well, Oz is a real place in the books, an’ Dorothy keeps going back. So Ripley an’ I think it’s gotta be real. You agree with us, don’t you, Gran-gran?”

“Oh, yes, Oz is real all right. I should know.”

“Since it’s only Judy Garland’s dream in the movie, whizz-bang, that solves her Oz problems. But back in Kansas, poor Toto’s still in trouble with that horrid Gulch lady. Course, she wasn’t in the book—or those hired hands either.”

“Takes a great deal of imagination to think Oz could exist. You and I have very good imaginations, Jeremy.”

“More’n Mom. She gets real nervous if I say anything about Ripley.”

“I know, but remember others can’t see Ripley.”

“One time you promised to read me the stories you made up about Oz. An’ I know you lived in Kansas then, an’ your maiden name was Dorothy Gayle. Real cool coincidence—even if your last name was spelled wrong.”

“Spelled right for me.”

“Anyway, you sorta pretended to be the real Dorothy.”

“Yes. . . sort of pretended. . . . We had a tornado, you know. And I’ve kept journals for more than seventy years now. . . went back several times. Used my journals to rewrite my stories—over and over. Got help from Alex, your grandpa.”

“You said your stories are closer to the book than the movie.”

“Well, consider those ruby slippers in the movie. Now how could anyone do all that walking in slippers. Red wasn’t the right color either. Silver shoes, that’s what they were. It’s silver that’s magical in Oz.”

“My silly sister had nightmares just seeing the movie. So I imagine the real Dorothy might have had nightmares, too. An’ if she told the kids at school about Oz, she’d have been teased something awful. I learned to shut up about Ripley.”

“Your imagination is right on, young man. She had to learn how to deal with bullying and teasing.”

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The Mysterious Tintype of Oz  ISBN  9781301449255 is available in various e-book formats.

For example it can be found at Barnes & and Noble at

 http://bit.ly/16koVBu   

A blog is at http://tintypeofoz.blogspot.com/