Citali here. Willow's the booklist expert, but here's my first one: fairy tale remixes. You might ask, what's a fairy tale remix? I see it as a fairy tale retold, in a different genre, a different world, or simply in different words by a different author with a new twist.
Everyone knows some fairy tales, and there are too many to count! There are the common ones that everyone knows: The Frog Prince; Cinderella; Little Red Riding Hood. There are the more obscure ones, maybe not so well-known: East of the Sun, West of the Moon; The Snow Queen; The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Finally, elements of fairy tales that aren't tied to one particular tale are still very much parts of fairy tales: dragons, unicorns, fairies.
Here's my top five list of remixes (there are way too many to write them all down! I'm trying to stay concise and only list what I've read recently). I added short descriptions/synopses/teasers for each! No particular order, and one could argue what fairy tale is being retold in each: consider them all good books for the genre, and ones you definitely should read!
- Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley. (dragons) This author is one of the best at fairy tale remixes. This book is different from most that she writes, though: it features an earth where dragons are real, and Jake lives in the national park of Smokehill, one of the last dragon sanctuaries in the world. Dragons are going extinct, but it's illegal both to kill (poach) a dragon... or to save its life.
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer. (Cinderella) Willow and I mention this book and its series a lot. Why? It's really good, with a great concept, characters, and plot twist! Quoting one review, it's "Cinderella among the cyborgs." In a futuristic earth, Cinder is a cyborg mechanic, living with her stepmother and two sisters in New Beijing. When she and her android Iko meet handsome Prince Kai... adventures follow!
- Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. (East of the Sun, West of the Moon) Another great fairy tale remix author! This remix is simply a retelling, not a different genre or world. A girl whose brother has been missing is whisked off to a polar bear's ice palace, where a mystery surrounding her family, the bear, and the people of the palace must be solved....
- Enchanted by Althea Kontis. (The Frog Prince) This book is a mash of many fairy tales, not just one... and amazing! Sunday Woodcutter is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and whatever she writes comes true. When she meets, befriends, loves, kisses, and eventually leaves a frog that she meets in the woods, Sunday sets off events that will snowball into a fairy-tale escapade to untangle love, secrets, and royal goings-on...
- The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. (assorted fairy tales) Not so much a retelling but an idea that involves fairy-tale elements. Elizabeth accepts a job as a page at the New York Circulating Materials Repository, where along with her new friends and fellow pages Anjali, Aaron, and Marc, she learns about magical items in the Repository and how pages are disappearing, items are losing their magic... and someone is behind it.
Happy reading,
~Citali
Hey, um, just wondering, do you think Cinder has mature content or could someone who is more tween than teen read it?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. In terms of bad language and/or sexual content and/or ideas: Cinder and series (except maybe Fairest) are clean. In terms of description of disease, war, etc.: if you can deal with Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, you'll be fine. In general, anyone 12+, in my opinion, will be fine with Cinder and series. However, Fairest, a prequel about the villain, is a bit more inappropriate, perhaps 13-14+. Hope this helped!
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