Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015)

So sigh. 

Despite a blurb from Gregory Maguire on the cover, I adored this book. A lovely fairy tale retelling which keeps the barest bones of the original tale (Beauty and the Beast) and transforms it into a magical, original tale. 

Agnieszka lives in a small village with her family in a land that is threatened by the mysterious Wood. The Dragon, a distant, cold wizard who protects the land chooses one girl every ten years to serve him in his tower. To everyone's surprise and dismay, Agnieszka is chosen. She learns that she has magic and works with the difficult, diffident Dragon to explore her magical abilities. 

But before you know it, her friends, family and land are threatened by the Wood and a magical war takes place. I love the friendship between Agnieszka and her good friend Kasia, the mysterious danger of the Wood, and the burgeoning relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon. Plus, this book is a super dreamy grown-up romance.

I adored the insults that the Dragon throws at Agnieszka, like "recalcitrant idiot." Also, this book features very swoony kissing: "'You intolerable lunatic' he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me."

Romantic, suspenseful, well-written, and heart-rending, this is just a completely lovely novel.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce (2012)

Have I mentioned my newfound love for Graham Joyce? Where has he been all my life?

Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a story about Tara, a daughter and a sister who went missing twenty years ago. Then one day, she shows up looking like she hasn't aged a single day. She says she was kidnapped by the fairies--what's the real story?

Joyce has a marvelously deft hand at blending fantasy and reality. He creates wonderfully vivid characters, from Tara's brother's 13-year-old son to the semi-retired (and pretty eccentric) psychiatrist Vivian Underwood. Plus, the POV beautifully shifts among characters telling each story perfectly and with so much character that you always know who's speaking.

Also, as a longtime fairy tale devotee, I LOVED all of the epigraphs that started each chapter from such excellent sources as Bruno Bettelheim, Charles DeLint and Terri Windling. And bonus, each epigraph actually relates to the chapter's contents. (It's amazing how often they don't in fiction.) I loved all of the talk of fairy tales, and all of the common threads that connect fairy tales, and how they are still so very relevant to our lives. Just lovely and now on my list of very favorite fairy tale retellings.

The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman (2013)

 

A very endearing young adult novel that follows the adventures of the pages who work at the New-York Circulating Library, a library that lends out magical items instead of books. We first met this library in the even-more-charming The Grimm Legacy. 

While researching robots, Leo discovers the New-York Circulating Library and the mysterious objects held within its walls.  Leo gets a job as a page at the library, mostly to be around the intriguing head page Jaya, but soon gets embroiled in time travel, death rays and other exciting developments.  Funny, adventurous and charming, and great fun for any fan of H.G. Wells. 

See also The Librarian's Note which explains how the librarian created call numbers for the mythical and magical objects in these two books.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin (2008)

Sometimes you find the strangest books just by searching the library catalog. I was looking for something else and ended up requesting this because it's based on the ballad Scarborough Fair (made popular by Simon & Garfunkel, of course).

Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women in her family are under a curse by an elf king that causes each of the women to be pregnant at 17, and requires them to perform three impossible tasks. If they can't complete those tasks, they go insane. Lucy has seen the proof of this in her estranged mother, who periodically shows up, crazy and pushing a shopping cart and embarrassing her at school.

What set this book apart from so many young adult novels that I've read is that when Lucy goes to her family to tell them of the curse, they believe her. There's no argument that "there's no such thing as magic or elf kings--you must be crazy", they just believe in her and work with her to help her try to complete the impossible tasks. And they give an excellent explanation that maybe it's true and maybe it's not, but she believes so strongly in it, they need to work with her. 

The novel itself is an odd blend--there's a lovely romance with Zach, the boy next door--but it also contains genuine peril, including rape and mental illness. But due to the excellent characterization and the unusually and well-constructed plot, it works very well. This would definitely go on my list of favorite fairy tale/ballad adaptations along with Pamela Dean's Tam Lin and Beauty by Robin McKinley.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman (2010)

Charming young adult novel about Elizabeth, who gets a job as a page at the New-York Circulating Material Repository, which lends out objects rather than books. It's also home to the Grimm collection, which contains magical objects that inspired the famous fairy tales. When items (and pages) start disappearing, Elizabeth and her fellow pages have to use everything they can to solve the mystery and get them back. This book is fabulous for anyone who loves libraries and fairy tales. It's subtle and charming, mysterious and romantic and a little funny. Great characters. So yay!  Shulman also wrote the witty young adult Pride and Prejudice-inspired Enthusiam.

Fitcher's Brides by Gregory Frost (2002)

From the amazing Fairy Tale series by Terri Windling. This one is a retelling of Bluebeard set in the 1800s among a doomsday cult led by a very charismatic preacher. Although some of the conventions of the original tale don't serve the retelling as well as I'd like, such as the personalities of the three sisters who marry Bluebeard, this book is one of those that just stayed with me. Plus, the story of Bluebeard is always fascinating, and I never remember the name of this book.

Cupid by Julius Lester (2007)

This tale of Cupid and Psyche is told with the voice of a Southern black storyteller, and brings in elements of Roman and Greek mythology. Has lots of interesting insights about love, and is a fascinating, fun discourse on the telling of a story.  Julius Lester is amazing. S See also his great retellings of the Uncle Remus stories.  You'll want to read them aloud to anyone nearby.

Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde (1995)

Presents thirteen twisted versions of such familiar fairy tales as Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  There's nothing I love better than a little fairy tale retelling and Vande Velde is a master of writing humorous fantasy and  has wonderful insight into fairy tells and how to twist them perfectly.

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde (2000)

Vande Velde starts by deconstructing the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale and points out what a weird and sort of stupid tale it is. Then she proceeds to write six new versions of the tale that twist the story in some new and interesting way. Very well told.  Vande Velde is also an Adored Author.

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (1988)

Retelling of Sleeping Beauty set partially in Germany during the Holocaust. Almost unbearably poignant.  Part of the amazing fairy tale retelling series put out by Tor books and created by Terri Windling.

A Wolf At the Door: and other Retold Fairy Tales by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (2000)

Science fiction and fantasy authors including Jane Yolen, Kathe Koja, and Gregory Maguire retell thirteen fairy tales and add their own particular spin.  Irreverent and a bit darker than you'd think--especially since it's a collection shelved in the children's collection.  Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are the masters (mistresses?) of fairy tale retellings.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (1991)

Part of the wonderful fairy tale retelling series put out by Tor and created by Terri Windling series, this is an imaginative retelling of the Scottish ballad set in a college in Minnesota.  In this version, an English literature major discovers that she must defy the Faerie Queen to rescue her own true love.  An interesting companion novel to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which is set among classics majors at a college.

Beauty - Robin McKinley (1978)

Awfully endearing retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale.  In this version, Beauty is anything but.  Her family calls her Beauty as a joke, but she is courageous of heart and when necessary, she goes to the Beast's castle and the story proceeds from there.  Lovely and romantic and very close in emotion to the classic film by Jean Cocteau.

Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks (1991)

Meditative and haunting tale of the aftermath of tragedy in a small town. Beautifully told and has a fascinating retelling of the Pied Piper story included.  Also, a wonderful movie directed by Atom Agoyan, with a fantastic soundtrack.  So compelling.  All of it.

Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (1993)

Witty and bitter tale of a villainess named Zenia wreaking havoc with the lives of three friends. I really do adore Margaret Atwood's books, but this is one of the few Atwood books that didn't plunge me into a deep, dark depression.