Fairy Tale Retellings for Young Adults
Discover the best fairy tale retellings for young adults, featuring Ash, Ella Enchanted, Beauty, and more beloved books by Gail Carson Levine, Robin McKinley, and Donna Jo Napoli.
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The Swan Maiden
by Heather Tomlinson
An age-old fairy tale told in a refreshingly original voice, this stunning, richly imagined debut novel depicts fantasy at its most eloquent.
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Ugly
by Donna Jo Napoli
A retelling of the Ugly Duckling story follows little Ugly as the other ducks of Dove Lake turn against him and he is forced to find his way in the world alone, but thanks to new friendships his search for an identity is made a lot easier.
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Just Ella
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Being a princess isn't all that.... You've heard the fairytale: a glass slipper, Prince Charming, happily ever after... Welcome to reality: royal genealogy lessons, needlepoint, acting like "a proper lady," and -- worst of all -- a prince who is not the least bit interesting, and certainly not charming. As soon-to-be princess Ella deals with her newfound status, she comes to realize she is not "your majesty" material. But breaking off a royal engagement is no easy feat, especially when you're crushing on another boy in the palace.... For Ella to escape, it will take intelligence, determination, and spunk -- and no ladylike behavior allowed.
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Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
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Ash
by Malinda Lo
Forced into becoming an indentured servant when her family dies, Ash lives a lonely and desperate life with no hopes for the future, until she meets Kaisa, the King's royal Huntress, who teaches her to love, live, and dream once again.
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Spinners
by Donna Jo Napoli
A reinvention of the Rumplestiltskin story -- one spinner uses a stolen wheel, crippling his leg as he makes straw into a glittering dress for his beloved, whom he loses. A second spinner named Saskia becomes a master spinner -- until she too is forced to spin straw into gold. When they meet, a new tale must be spun.
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A Curse Dark as Gold
by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner makes a tempting offer: he can turn straw into gold.
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East
by Edith Pattou
A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.
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Beauty
by Robin McKinley
A strange imprisonment Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?" Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: Beauty and the Beast.
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Water Song
by Suzanne Weyn
Stranded in war-torn Belgium, Emma Pennington finds a wounded American soldier carrying vital information for the Allies and protects him from the Germans occupying her family estate.
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Spindle's End
by Robin McKinley
In the tradition of Beauty and Rose Daughter, Newbery Award-winning author Robin McKinley "lends a fresh perspective to a classic fairy tale, developing the story of Sleeping Beauty into a richly imagined, vividly depicted novel" (School Library Journal) BRILLIANT...[a] sumptuous world. (New York Times Book Review) MYTHIC GRANDEUR...with magical detail and all-too-human feeling. (Publishers Weekly starred review) Satisfying reading, pleasing in the depth of the weaving and elaboration. (Chicago Tribune) Rich prose and colorful description...keep readers spellbound. (Rocky Mountain News)
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Zel
by Donna Jo Napoli
High in the mountains, Zel lives with her mother, who insists they have all they need -- for they have each other. Zel's life is peaceful and protected -- until a chance encounter changes everything. When she meets a beautiful young prince at the market one day, she is profoundly moved by new emotions. But Zel's mother sees the future unfolding -- and she will do the unspeakable to prevent Zel from leaving her..."Will leave readers spellbound."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review
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Kissing the Witch
by Emma Donoghue
Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances--sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape, radiantly transformed.Cinderella forsakes the handsome prince and runs off with the fairy godmother; Beauty discovers the Beast behind the mask is not so very different from the face she sees in the mirror; Snow White is awakened from slumber by the bittersweet fruit of an unnamed desire. Acclaimed writer Emma Donoghue spins new tales out of old in a magical web of thirteen interconnected stories about power and transformation and choosing one's own path in the world. In these fairy tales, women young and old tell their own stories of love and hate, honor and revenge, passion and deception. Using the intricate patterns and oral rhythms of traditional fairy tales, Emma Donoghue wraps age-old characters in a dazzling new skin. 2000 List of Popular Paperbacks for YA
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Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird (Magic Carpet Books)
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