Once Upon a Time . . . Fairy Tales for Teens

I love to read re-imaginings of fairy tales -- whether it is a strict retelling with more character development or a fractured tale.  Here are some of my favorite fairy tales for teens . . . .

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
When Sunday Woodcutter, the youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week, kisses an enchanted frog, he transforms back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland--a man Sunday's family despises.

Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen
Recasts the tale of Snow White, setting it in West Virginia in the 1940s with a stepmother who is a snake-handler.

Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Based on the fairy tale Rapunzel, the story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Zel, her mother, and the prince, and delves into the psychological motivations of the characters.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
A girl travels east of the sun and west of the moon to free her beloved prince from a magic spell.

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
Having escaped from the Wild and the preordained fairy tale plots it imposes, Rapunzel, along with her daughter Julie Marchen, tries to live a fairly normal life, but when the Wild breaks free and takes over their town, it is Julie who has to prevent everyone from being trapped in the events of a story.


More Fairy Tales for Teens --
Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen
Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli
The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley
East by Edith Pattou
The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman
Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses by Ronald Koertge
Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
Mira, Mirror by Mette Harrison
Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas
Roses by G.R. Mannering
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Toads & Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Towering by Alex Flinn
The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through December 30, 2016.

A Winter Wonderland of Reading

This past weekend saw our first snowfall of the season.  While the snow didn't last but an hour or two, it did bring back fond memories of some of my favorite children's books that take place during the winter . . .

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.

The Leanin' Dog by K.A. Nuzum
In wintry Colorado during the 1930s, eleven-year-old Dessa Dean mourns the death of her beloved mother, but the arrival of an injured dog and the friendship they form is just what they need to change their lives forever.

North by Donna Jo Napoli
Tired of his mother's overprotectiveness and intrigued by the life of African American explorer Matthew Henson, twelve-year-old Alvin travels north and spends a season with a trapper near the Arctic Circle.

Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford
Two girls spend an adventurous night trapped inside the public library during a terrible blizzard.

Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
From the first ice, a thin skin on a bucket of water, through thickly-iced fields, streams, and gardens, a girl, her family, and friends anticipate and enjoy a winter of skating, ending with an ice show complete with costumes, refreshments, and clowns.


More Winter Stories --
Blackwater Ben by William Durbin
The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Winter According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birtney
The Winter Pony by Iain Lawrence

It's the End of the World . . . .

A popular theme in teen books is the world ending.  Whether this is a natural disaster that causes the world go back to the Stone Age or a plague that wipes out all the adults on earth, it's a great story.  Here are some books featuring teens facing the end of the world . . . .

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
After his parents, two sisters, and he have spent six years in a vast underground compound built by his wealthy father to protect them from a nuclear holocaust, fifteen-year-old Eli, whose twin brother and grandmother were left behind, discovers that hisfather has perpetrated a monstrous hoax on them all.

Icons by Margaret Stohl
After an alien force known as the Icon colonizes Earth, decimating humanity, four surviving teenagers must piece together the mysteries of their pasts--in order to save the future.

Gone by Michael Grant
In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have "The Power" and are able to perform supernatural feats and those who do not.

Storm by Donna Jo Napoli
Having lost her family in a massive flood, sixteen-year-old Sebah finds her way onto a gigantic ark, where she must conceal herself from Noah and his family until it is safe for her and another stowaway to slip away.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.

More Books --
After the End by Amy Plum
After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
Alien Invasions & Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Exodus by Julie Bertagna
The Fury by Alexander Gordon Smith
Hole in the Sky by Pete Hautman
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block
Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas
Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Shipbreaker: A Novel by Paolo Bacigalupi
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

Fairy Tales Retold

"Once upon a time . . . "
These is one of my favorite ways for a book to start.  I love fairy tales -- whether the original Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen or new tales.  Today I thought I would share some great retellings of fairy tales for kids . . .

The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler
Zita, cast aside by her father and raised as a kitchen maid, learns when she is nearly twelve that she is a princess and that her twelve sisters love her, and so when she discovers they are victims of an evil enchantment, she desperately tries to save them. A retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".

I Was a Rat! by Philip Pullman
A little boy turns life in London upside down when he appears at the house of a lonely old couple and insists he was a rat.  A retelling of "Cinderella".

The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser
Twelve-year-old Rudi stumbles upon a witch's lair while out hunting, takes a gold coin he finds there but loses it again, then must deal with the witch's servant who promises to end the town's rat infestation only if he receives that gold coin.  A retelling of "The Pied Piper".

Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli
When the rest of the ducks turn on her little duckling, Ugly, because he isn't like them, Mother Duck sadly leaves him behind in order to protect her other children. With the help of some new friends, Ugly makes his way alone, but he doesn't know where he's going or what he's looking for.  A retelling of "The Ugly Duckling".

More Fairy Tale Retellings --
Beauty and the Beast: The One Who Didn't Run Away by Wendy Mass
Fairest by Gail Carson Levin (Snow White)
The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker (The Frog Prince)
Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli (Rumpelstiltskin)
Straw Into Gold by Gary D. Schmidt (Rumpelstiltskin)
A True Princess by Diane Zahler (The Princess and the Pea)

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: Tales of Witches

The image of the witch standing over a cauldron and stirring a disgusting potion is an image that we are all familiar with.  Here are some stories that feature witches -- both good and evil.

Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde
A girl finds herself running through the forest at the edge of a village with no memory of anything, even her own name, and later learns that she might be twelve-year-old Isabelle, believed to be stolen by a witch six years before.

The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
When her baby brother seems to become possessed by an evil spirit, fourteen-year-old Laura seeks the help of the strangely compelling older boy at school who she is convinced has supernatural powers.

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
After learning sorcery to become a healer, a good-hearted woman is turned into a witch by evil spirits and she fights their power until her encounter with Hansel and Gretel years later.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
A young woman who has endured unspeakable cruelties is magically granted a safe haven apart from the real world and allowed to raise her two daughters in this alternate reality, until the barrier between her world and the real one begins to break down.

Classics, Retold

I love retellings of classic stories.  It is always interesting to see how the author interprets the story and what new elements are added to the story.  Here are some teen retellings of classic books . . .

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli
Elaborates on the tale of "The Pied Piper," told from the point of view of a boy who is too ill to keep up when a piper spirits away the healthy children of a plague-ridden town after being cheated out of full payment for ridding Hameln of rats .

Enter Three Witches: A Story of Macbeth by Caroline Cooney
When her father betrays the Scottish king and is hung as a traitor, Lady Mary's future is bleak after she loses her only true protector and ends up locked away in the tower by the powerful and deadly Lord and Lady Macbeth.

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
A collection of variations on the familiar story of a boastful miller and the daughter he claims can spin straw into gold.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily receives special protections from the spiritual forces of Neverland, but then she meets her tribe's most dangerous enemy--Peter Pan--and falls in love with him.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Will Scarlet shadows Robin Hood, with an unerring eye for finding treasures to steal and throwing daggers with deadly accuracy, but when Gisbourne, a ruthless bounty hunter, is hired by the sheriff to capture Robin and his band of thieves, Robin must become Will's protector risking his own life in the process.

Once Upon a Time . . .

I have always loved to read fairy tales.  The adventure, magic and romance combine together to make compelling stories.  Here are three of my favorite fairy tale novels for teens.

Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen
Recasts the tale of Snow White, setting it in West Virginia in the 1940s with a stepmother who is a snake-handler.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
A girl travels east of the sun and west of the moon to free her beloved prince from a magic spell.

Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Based on the fairy tale Rapunzel, the story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Zel, her mother, and the prince, and delves into the psychological motivations of the characters.