Young Adult Reading List: Retellings of Fairy Tales

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 

― G.K. Chesterton

If you're like me, you went through a phase in high school when all you read were fairy tale retellings. If you're not like me, you can re-live my high school experience through this list below. (Yes, I SPENT HIGH SCHOOL IN FAIRYLAND)

The Twelve Dancing Princesses
"The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brother Grimm. In the tale, the king of the land is perplexed why his twelve daughters' dancing shoes are worried to the sole every night, and sends out an edict that says whichever man can find out why the princesses' shoes are worn can choose his bride out of the princesses. A soldier volunteers and, with the help of an enchanted invisibility cloak, follows the girls underneath a trap door in their room to a magical lake. Across the lake is a castle where the girls dance the night away. This occurs for three nights, and on the third night, the soldier tells the king and marries the eldest daughter.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm. 

But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he's there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena's sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom--an impossible union it's up to Jena to stop.

When Cezar's grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can't imagine--tests of trust, strength, and true love.

Axie's Take: 5/5. This book combines the "Twelve Dancing Princesses" fairy tale with "The Frog Prince" with vampires... There's only 5 daughters too, so you don't have to feel bad about not caring for the one random princess who gets absolutely no page time. 

Notable Mention: Entwined by Heather Dixon (3/5) 

Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast" is a French fairy tale about a girl, the third daughter of three (my mother always says the third daughter  is always the best daughter [she has two daughters]), who is named "Belle" for her inner beauty. Belle's father, a merchant, after losing all his worldly wealth in a storm at sea, returns home only to get lost in an enchanted forest on the way back. He stumbles upon an enchanted castle in the enchanted forest and is indulged and pampered by its invisible servants. In the morning, as he's leaving, he plucks a rose in the garden of the castle, a gift intended for Belle. The owner of the castle, a BEAST, angrily tells the merchant that for having accepted his hospitality and then taken one of his precious roses, the merchant shall DIE! The merchant begs the beast to let him go home and, at least, give Belle the rose. The beast allows this. The merchant goes home and Belle willingly returns in his place. Voila La. Exactly how the Disney movie goes. Except without Gaston.

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?"

Axie's Take: 5/5. This book is amazing. It's also very true to the original French fairy tale.
Notable Mention: For an adult, loosely based re-telling of Beauty and The Beast, try Juliet Marillier's, Heart's Blood (4/5).

Cinderella 
Cinderella is a folk tale "embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression [leading to] triumphant reward."If you don't know the myth of Cinderella, you live in a cave.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent young fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey. When her beloved mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent and avaricious father, and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem to be in grave peril. But her intelligence and saucy nature keep her in good stead as she sets out on a quest for freedom and self-discovery as she tries to track down Lucinda to undo the curse, fending off ogres, befriending elves, and falling in love with a prince along the way.

Axie's Take: 5/5. This is my favorite Cinderella re-telling because it's laugh out loud funny and extremely endearing, especially the ending. I cried!!!
Notable Mentions: Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey (a traditional re-telling, 3/5), Cinder by Marissa Meyer (a cyborg re-telling, 4/5)

East of the Sun and West of the Moon
"East of the Moon and West of the Sun" is a Norwegian folktale about a girl who marries a bear. She goes with the bear to his enchanted castle and while there, is visited nightly by a loving stranger who she can't see b/c of the dark.  Missing her family, the bride returns home and is told by her suspicious family that the stranger must be a "troll" and that she must light a candle beside his face to learn the truth. But, by doing so, she condemns him (who turns out to be a super hot dude) to a troll queen's curse and he's whisked away to a faraway castle, EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON. The girl goes on a journey to find him. 

East by Edith Pattou

Rose has always been different.

Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever.

So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it-- in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family-- she readily agrees.

Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-- and finds her purpose-- and realizes her journey has only just begun.

Axie's Take: 5/5.  This book is YA fantasy at it's best. It has a strong-willed, believable heroine. The writing is atmospheric. It re-tells a folk tale that isn't widely known. Points for having a bear in it. And trolls.

The Goose Girl 
"The Goose Girl" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It tells of a princess who travels with her maid to a faraway kingdom to marry the kingdom's prince. On the way, the maid switches places with the princess through trickery, and when they reach the kingdom, the princess is made the Goose Girl, whereas the maid is made the princess. Of course, the prince ends up falling in love with the Goose Girl. Honk. Honk. Honk.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. 

Axie's Take: 5/5.  This Goose Girl can talk to animals! Btw, Shannon Hale (the author) is amazing at re-tellings in general. Check out Book of a Thousand Days for a retelling of an obscure tale, Maid Maleen, which features an Asian cast and setting!

Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. The tale goes like this: A pregnant lady asks her husband to steal rapunzel from their neighbor's (an enchantress') garden.   He's caught by the enchantress who lets him go when he promises to give the enchantress his unborn daughter. When the baby girl is born, the enchantress takes her and names her Rapunzel. The girl grows up to have long, golden hair, and when she's 12, the enchantress sticks in her in a tower. "When the witch visits Rapunzel, she stands beneath the tower and calls out: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb thy golden stair." (Wiki) 

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...

Axie's Take: 5/5. This book isn't for everyone. It's very dark and more figurative than literal, but very, very beautiful in atmosphere and language. 

Scheherazade
"Scheherazade"  is the Persian storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. In her kingdom, the king was marrying one virgin every night and beheading her in the morning. After he'd killed 1,000 women, Scheherazade, the vizier's daughter, volunteers to marry the king. On their wedding night, she invites her sister into the room so that Scheherazade can tell her sister goodbye with one more goodnight story. Scheherazade begins the story, but by dawn, she hasn't finished. Wanting to hear the end, the king allows Scheherazade to live one more night. This goes on for 1001 nights and the stories she tells are the stories within the One Thousand and One Nights, like "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves".

The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey

In a faraway kingdom, a king has been betrayed. Deeply hurt and bitterly angry, he vows never to be deceived again. Unfortunately, the king's plan to protect himself will endanger all of the realm's young women, unless one of them will volunteer to marry the king — and surrender her life.

To everyone's relief and horror, one young woman steps forward. The daughter of a legendary storyteller, Shahrazad believes it is her destiny to accept this risk and sacrifice herself.

On the night of her wedding to the king, Shahrazad begins to weave a tale. Fascinated, the king lets her live night after night. Just when Shahrazad dares to believe that she has found a way to keep her life — and an unexpected love — a treacherous plot will disrupt her plan. Now she can only hope that love is strong enough to save her.

Axie's Take:  5/5. Cameron Dokey is really good at writing evocative, compelling re-tellings and this one of hers is by far my favorite. They'd probably make this into a Disney movie if it weren't for the king always getting his cray on and beheading his wives. Scheherazade is as badass as her name.
Notable Mention: Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher (5/5). This book is not young adult, but middle grade.

Tam Lin 
"Tam Lin" is a legendary ballad from Scotland about a girl whose love is stolen from her by the Queen of the Fairies. In order to get him back, she has to hold onto him as the Queen transforms him into various animals that are extremely difficult and dangerous to hold. 

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folk—whose customs are even older than the Druids’ and include human sacrifice.

Axie's Take: 5/5.  This book isn't just a fairy tale re-telling, but it's also historical fantasy!
More Tam Lin: Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. I haven't read this, yet. Mostly b/c I KNOW I'm going to love it (I adore Diana Wynne Jones) and I don't want her books to ever end. (Psychic reading 5/5)

I'm always looking to add to my list. I've read some re-tellings of Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin, but none I love enough to recommend. Are there any fairy tale retellings that you've enjoyed?