What I'm Reading Now: August Edition

I hope you've been getting some summer reading in, whether by the pool or curled up in an air-conditioned room. I've been back in the reading groove and here's what I've got going on right now.

On my Nook: I have been working through Andrew Lang's collected Fairy Books and I'm on the twelfth and final one - The Lilac Fairy Book. These have provided a lot of fun and some ideas for novels, as well. The further I got into the series, the less familiar the stories became and the wider the cultural spread, though I do have to wonder how much was changed when they were translated and "adapted" for children. An excellent place to start, though, if you want to spread your fairy tale wings.

On my Phone: Still chugging along in Don Quixote - got past the familiar parts and realized I haven't, in fact, read this before. Enjoying it when I have a few minutes to read here and there.

In Print - Fiction: I just started Fairest by Marissa Meyer. Now getting into the part of the series I hadn't read before and loving every minute of it. I'm particularly curious to see Levana's back story, because I have a feeling there are going to be some big surprises there. The Lunar Chronicles is an excellently told and crafted YA fairy tale retelling and I highly recommend them.

In Print - Non-Fiction: Also just started All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg. I'm already intrigued and I'm only a chapter in. I really enjoy memoirs and biographies.

On Audio in my car: The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan is the final book in the Kane Chronicles trilogy and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's a fun series and a fun take on Egyptian mythology. And, as I mentioned before, the narrators totally sell the story through their narration.

On TV: I just binge watched the entire first season (all 8 episodes of it) of the new Stranger Things on Netflix. Loved it. I was trying to describe it to NaomiRuth, who I knew would also enjoy it, and it's basically X-Files meets Pretender meets Super 8 with some Lost sensibilities. It's dark and fun and creepy and mysterious and most of the main cast are middle schoolers.

So what are you reading or watching? Share in the comments!

A Wombly-Eyed View

Troll's-Eye View

Book Details:

• Compiled by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• Written by Such Authors as Garth Nix, Jane Yolen, and Nancy Farmer

• Published by Viking Penguin

• Cover designed by Kristin Smith

• Cover Illustration by Esao Andrews (be aware some of his work may not be Down Under friendly)

Important Things to Know:

• This is a collection of stories for middle grade readers, probably in the age range of 8-12

• There are some darker themes in the book, so be aware if you or your child/niece/friend/alien spawn is uncomfortable with slightly darker stories

What Wombly and I Thought About This Book:

• Wombly and I agreed that we neither loved nor hated this book.

• Why we didn't love it: honestly, it was forgettable. It's been a little while since I read this book (I read it beginning of winter) and there is nothing about the book that I found memorable.
• Some of the stories were okay, some were pretty good, but I think that many of the stories were sub-par. I know it can be difficult to write for Down Unders, and I know short stories (for novel writers) can be tough, but honestly? I was expecting more and so was Wombly.
• However, I don't regret reading the book. I did give it four stars on Goodreads, which means that it gave a powerful first impression.
• For readers interested in fairy tales and villains Wombly and I recommend giving this book a try. Let us know what You thought about it.

Wombly and I Read This Book Because:

• I've been trying to read more short stories and short story collections. I was at my college library and Wombly pointed out this book to me, so I decided we could give it a try.
• Also: this was a re-telling of fairy tales from the villains perspective. I love switching up character perspectives and I love fairy tale retellings.

You Can Find This Book At:

• Barnes & Noble

• Books-a-Million

• Or an Indie Bookstore near you!

Once Upon a Time: Journey to Neverland and Heart of the Truest Believer

Hi everyone! Are you ready to journey back to the world of fairy tales and magic? I was really looking forward to the season premier and I thought I would watch the special feature to remind myself of the twists and turns of last season. So if you weren't able to catch it, here's my recap of the recap.

Henry:
Innocent + persistent = smartest character + Mother = Savior - adoptive mother = trouble + Rumple + Neal = Grandfather!? + problems + other bad guys = kidnapped by ... Peter Pan?

Emma:
Wily + No ties = lonely + Neal = le sigh - Neal - Henry = walls + fighter + Henry + True Love's kiss of a mother = Destiny + Regina = arch-nemesis - Henry = angry mama bear

Rumplestiltskin:
Crocodile + Beast + Fairy Godmother + creepy seer = change in behavior - wife = megalomaniac + anger + obsession - son = tortured - seer + prophecy + grandson = conflict

Neal:
Son - father + Emma = Henry + family - family + Tamara = uh-oh + family + sacrifice = true love

Snow:
Rude + Snotty + mother = kindness - mother = sad + good + Regina = uh-oh + secrets + spilling the beans + dead lover = evil stepmother + theft + Prince = true love + good heart + hope = hatred from Regina - Cora + consequences + black heart = despair + family = new purpose

Charming:
Shepherd + king = Prince + danger = hero + belief + family = true love + faith = happy ever after

Regina:
Innocent + Cora = frustration - father + love = disaster - love + power = vendetta + Rumple = loss of innocence + anger + death = evil queen + Henry = conflicted - Henry = vendetta + Henry = confusion - Henry = rage + Henry = sacrifice

Hook:
Pirate + Rumple's wife - Rumple's wife = vendetta + revenge = dissatisfaction + Regina + the Charmings = plan + Peter Pan = dun dun dun

Great! So now that we're all caught up let's jump into Season 3!
3.1 "Heart of the Truest Believer"

Tonight Henry runs into the woods with an ex-Lost Boy, tangles with some pixie dust, and proves himself to be a true believer. Meanwhile Snow, Charming, Hook, Regina, and Emma survive a mermaid attack, and whip up quite a storm ... literally until Emma is able to bring them all to their senses. Back in the Enchanted Forest Nealfire has a chat with Mulan, makes friends with Robin Hood, and finds a magic snowglobe.

Tonight I think that, believe it or not, Mulan had the line that summed up the point nicely: She tells Nealfire, "Your belief in love wasn't strong enough to overcome your fear of rejection." And this becomes the sticking point for a lot of our characters. Can they believe in love enough to save themselves and each other? Or are they going to get caught up in how hard it is or could be.

Tamara and Greg are, as Pan says at the end, driven by hate. They don't believe; they want to destroy and it gets them stabbed in the back - literally. They also teach us the important lesson that you should never, ever, ever tick off a Lost Boy. Because they are mad creepy. Also, you probably should stay away from Rumple's family. Because he doesn't really do forgiveness.

Rumple may be driven by love for his family, but his motives are getting so convoluted that it's hard to know where he's going to go next. I really do hope that he believes in family enough to overcome his fear of losing his power, but it makes me nervous having him out on his own.

For our three villains (Rumple, Regina, and Hook) Regina and Hook's conversation wraps up the difficulty they face. Regina notes that "Villains don't get happy endings" to which Hook responds, "I hope not, or else we've wasted our lives." So can the three of them make enough things right? Can they un-become villains? Or are they destined to suffer and/or die because of their past villainous ways. And can they break out of that villainy or are they trapped in it forever?

And at the same time, Emma shouts at Snow that good doesn't always win, but she consistently makes the "good" choice, proving that Rumple has underestimated her ability to take a leap of faith, and, I think, the breadth of her imagination. After all, we are talking about a woman who went from being a pragmatic bounty hunter to believing that she is the savior of the fairy tale world whose mother is Snow White. I think her imagination's been stretched quite a bit recently and she's adapted remarkable well.

Which is why she's not really surprised when mermaids attack the boat (btw, love that they are vicious monsters) and is the first to realize that the weather is being directed by the attitudes on the boat. Brilliant plan to get everyone's attention, but true to the nothing-can-ever-go-right-for-a-Charming-ever edict, a loose pulley knocks her out, but also knocks sense into the others on the boat who have to pull together to save her. Though Regina's attack on Snow's use of "unicorn stickers" to win over the mermaid was hilarious and the ensuing cat fight bordered on ridiculous. In a good way.

On a side note, Hook and Charming had more brilliantly quippy lines this week. Love the snark:
Hook to Emma: "I've never known you to need to get ready for a fight. I thought it was your natural state." snrk

Charming: "I will not be capsized by fish!" This was my lol moment of the night.

Back in the Enchanted Forest we get to see our intrepid trio of Aurora, Philip, and Mulan. Mulan as a foil for Nealfire is pretty hilarious and I love the way he tells her the movie is pretty good. Too bad the character on the show in no way matches up with that movie and that she can't get a decent story line of her own. And I'm kind of nervous about some of the hints and nudges they've been building around her because if they go where it seems like they're going to go I may just have to throw a shoe at the screen.

However, Aurora is epic and I love the way she's just taking charge. Philip was kind of walking set piece in this episode.

I love the fact that Belle's insistence on mercy for Robin Hood came back to save Nealfire's life (rabbit trail - do you realize that in time Belle could end up being Henry's step-grandmother?!?! ahem.) and I was happy to see Robin back in the picture. I'm truly curious how they're going to play this because I don't think I can handle a long drawn out we-have-to-get-back-together story line. Again. I was actually kind of hoping that the magic eight ball snowglobe was going to transport him right there, but that would have been too easy.

And of course, as our episode title directs, Henry does have the heart of the truest believer. This kid will hold fast to his beliefs in the middle of anything, and that fervency is really the only thing that has kept him alive. It's also gotten him in a heap of trouble, but you know. It's a good thing he's had so much experience running through the woods, because he gets out of there awfully quickly when Tamara yells at him to run. His utmost faith in his family, in his own ability to survive, and in the magic that surrounds him is touching. It is such a hard line to walk and he could come across as obnoxiously optimistic, but the actor hits just the right tone and you just root for Henry to keep believing. I totally didn't call Peter Pan, but then was hitting myself over the head thinking - duh, of course that was him. But he seriously underestimates Henry. A kid who is willing to go to such extremes (I mean, jumping off a cliff?!) is not going to just give up or give in without a fight and Peter Pan has no idea what lengths Henry's family will go to in order to rescue him.

10 Things I Love About ... Cinder

I thought about doing a tongue in cheek post entitled "10 things I hate about Cinder" but I couldn't manage to put the words "hate" and "Cinder" in the same sentence. So here are my spoiler free Things I Love about

1. Cinderella with a twist - So anyone who's been around this blog for longer than a week understands I'm a sucker for good fairy tale retellings. I know there are a million of them out there, but I think that makes it even more impressive when someone like Marissa Meyer is able to take a story that is so familiar and has been almost overdone and make it fresh and new and completely recognizable and completely different at the same time. I pretty much knew how most of the story threads were going to end up (and I was right across the board) BUT I didn't know how we were going to get there and in this book the journey is absolutely everything.
2. The Eastern Commonwealth - It was very refreshing to read a book that wasn't set in North America. I have nothing against books set there, whether dystopia, post-apocalyptic, or otherwise. However, it is nice to see someone think in a different direction. I think it also helped to set this story apart in a good way.
3. Letumosis - Okay, I know that sounds really really weird. Like I shouldn't be liking the horrible disease ravaging the population, leading to painful deaths. But I appreciate the background details like this. Letumosis raises the stakes. It gives the characters something ELSE to fight against - not just the people - and it makes the world more fully developed.
4. Iko - Oh my goodness Iko. Everyone should have their own little robot to share secrets with and talk about everything. And she's pretty handy to have around the house or workshop too. I adored her crush on Kai.
5. Peony - How much do I love that one of Cinder's sisters actually liked her and got along with her. Their friendship is so sweet.
6. Dr. Erland - At first I did not like him at all, but he grew on me until at the end I was totally rooting for him. And that is all I am going to say on that point because I do not want to give away any spoilers.
7. The ending - I knew going into it that this was a series. But I wasn't expecting that much of a cliffhanger! I didn't mind because Scarlet just came out, but if I'd had to wait a year it would have been so much harder. Still the ending is great to leave all kinds of things open so many more delicious books can come out!
8. The larger political picture - this ties in with Letumosis and the Eastern Commonwealth. I just really really really really appreciated that Meyer took the whole world into account. I think the meeting of the leaders of the world was one of my favorite scenes - not because of what happened or anything, but simply because it was THERE. This acknowledgement that there is a whole world that will be affected and is being affected by the things that take place in this one part of it.
9. Cinder - But of course! I am loving the heroines in these YA books recently. I have read so many great books with really strong female leads who are developed as PEOPLE first and it is fantastic. I love Cinder's determination, her grit, her talent. I love that she is a genius at fixing things and not just because she's a cyborg. I love her flaws and that she chooses to do the right thing despite and in spite of those flaws. I love that she struggled. I love that she persevered. I love that I get to read more about her in Scarlet.
10. Kai - I am really not one to crush on fictional characters a lot, but I've had a plethora of options in recent YA fiction as well. Kai is wonderful. I love the relationship that organically develops between him and Cinder and I love how seriously he takes his responsibilities while still being his own person (with a great sense of humor I might add).

So there you have it. Did I miss anything you liked? Do tell. I kept away from spoilers here, but feel free to spoil away in the comments!

The Princess Curse - Merrie Haskal

            ~ Published: HarperCollins

            ~Written: Merrie Haskell

            ~Illustrator: (of book cover) Jason Chan

Hello Down Unders! This post will be super short because it's finals week BUT. I just had to share this book with you.

The Princess Curse is a really fun book. The main character, Reveka, is an herbalist working in a castle. There are 12 princesses with a mysterious curse that no one has been able to break. There is a huge reward for whoever might break it. It is Reveka's goal to win the reward so she can become a nun and not marry and just spend time with herbalist stuff.

The story is a mixture between the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Hades and Persephone, with a tinge of the fey world, and a dab of almost historical realism. Reveka is an engaging character you really root for. The world-building is stable and believable. You almost believe this is a real story that happened in a real place across the globe, somewhere near Romania.

I was concerned at first when it took a turn toward mythology, but Haskell wove it in well and created a believable atmosphere. And Reveka responded in a way that I found to be very realistic. There were touches of humor that I incredibly liked.

The only thing that bothered me and Wombly about this story was the cow-herder boy. I was sure there was going to be more to his character than there ended up being.

My friend read this book as well, and I know for her she was a little bit disappointed because there's so much more to the story that she wants to know.

Hopefully Merrie will write more of this world in the future.

For now! Happy finals (if you have such things) and have a good weekend!

If you're interested in buying The Princess Curse here are some links:

Barnes&Noble

Books-A-Million

IndieBound

Fairy Interesting: Once Upon a Time is BACK!

EEE! I love this show so much and I want to share that with those of you who love it too! So every Sunday I'll be posting my thoughts and comments. Beware - there will be spoilers. But I'd love if you joined the conversation!
And in case you missed the "Magic is Coming" special before the premier, here's my version :) If you don't want the recap, you can jump down to my thoughts on the season premier. I'll never know.

To Recap:

Fairy tales=Real
Magic=Real
Snow & Charming=adorable
Regina=EVIL
Rumplestiltskin=EVIL? but we love him anyway!
Gepetto & Pinocchio=stupid plot twist and why does young Pinocchio look NOTHING like older Pinocchio?
Emma=Curse breaker! Maybe?
Regina=EVIL
Emma=bounty hunter
Henry=Surprise! I'm your son and your mom and dad are fairy tale characters under an evil spell!
Emma=confused
Regina=Henry's evil adoptive mother?!
Emma=confused
Regina=maybe not so EVIL?
Regina's mother=EVIL FOR REALS
Regina=I saved Snow! I am sweet!
Snow=naive idiot
Regina's mother=EVIL FIANCE MURDERER
Mary Margaret=naive sweetheart
Emma=my son!
Mr. Gold=AH! RUMPLESTILTSKIN! Why do we love you so much!?
Ruby=Slutty Red Riding Hood?
Graham=We love you!
Regina=EVIL HUSBAND MURDERER
Graham=the huntsman! We love you!
Snow & Red=best friends
David=Charming in a coma?
Charming=farmboy? As you wish
David=not nearly as cute as Charming
Graham & Emma=adorable
Regina=EVIL SHERIFF MURDERER
Emma=Curse breaker!
Rumplestiltskin=Magic comes with a price (but we love you anyway)
Regina=EVIL
Rumplestiltskin=MAH BOOOOOOY!!!!
Snow=heartbroken and a little stupid
Dreamy/Grumpy=awwwwww
Regina=EVIL
Mr. Gold=Manipulator
Mary Margaret=Murderer? WHAT?!
Regina=EVIL
Mary Margaret=Innocent!
David=jerkface
Belle & Rumplestiltskin=Adorable!
Rumplestiltskin=Idjit
Regina=EVIL
August=the writers are trying too hard to mislead us
Pinocchio=I'm a real boy! I have red hair! I'm going to save Snow!
August=I'm a wooden boy! I have black hair! I'm going to convince Emma!
Emma=I'm so not a believer
August=Emma-wan-kenobi You're our only hope!
Regina=EVIL MURDER PLOTTER
Mad Hatter=We love you!
Regina=EVIL
Henry=nooooooo! Don't eat the apple turnover!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emily=And then I saw his face! Now I'm a believer!
Regina=MAH BOOOOOOY!!!
Charming=so much better than David
Maleficent=evil dragon
Emma=Dragon Slayer!
Jefferson=Mwahaha I'm getting back at Regina
Belle & Mr. Gold=Adorable!
Emma=naive
Henry=DEAD!??!??!?
Emma=true love's kiss
Everyone=what the hay bale just happened?!
Regina=maybe not so evil?
Mr. Gold=power hungry (but we love you anyway)
Purple=I am the smoke monster's cousin
Regina=never mind...EVIL

Okay, so now you're totally caught up and ready to go, right?

1.1 "Broken"
I have to say that the opening left me more confused than anything. It was so disconcerting that if I hadn't seen the credits rolling I would have doubted that it was the right show. And I kept waiting through the entire episode for that to come back in. Not a big fan of that move.

In Storybrooke:

The seven dwarves are pretty much the cutest thing of all time and the family hug pretty much the most awkward of all time. Henry calling David "Grandpa" earned a chuckle, but Snow was way too, well, for lack of a better word - eager. I get that she has just gotten back her memories and realizes who Emma really is, but chill for two seconds. It's a lot to take in.

On a side note, I really love the casting of Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket. He just looks like a cricket!

Mr. Gold and Belle together is still adorable, and it makes it so much more frustrating when he refuses to give up his thirst for power. It will be interesting to see how their relationship plays out over the course of the season. As long as it doesn't turn into a cycle of Belle getting mad at him, leaving, coming back, he promises to reform, yadda yadda. Having said that, I'm very excited that Emily de Ravin has a recurring role this season!

Regina is as evil as ever and every single time you think that there might be a smattering of humanity left in her she does something that counteracts it. I'd really like to see more depth in her current character. It's one thing to make her sympathetic in her back story, but I need more than an occasional "but I really love Henry" moment to get me interested. Here's hoping they flesh her out a bit more this season.

I was totally not expecting Snow and Emma to get sucked into the portal. I was waiting for that magic human chain thing - you know, Snow grabs Emma, Charming grabs Snow and everyone is safe. So that was quite a twist. And it really is impossible to tell whether Regina knows that there's anything left of Fairy Tale Land or not.

In Fairy Tale Land:

I rather liked Aurora's character, but Philip seemed a bit of a jerk. I really disliked his manhandling of Aurora and I have to say I wasn't particularly sad to see him die.

Also, the whole woman dressed in concealing clothing to make it look like a man so it's a surprise when it's revealed she's a woman? Really did not work here. Not a fan of Mulan at this point. First, I'd rather she had her own story line rather than feeling like an add-on to someone else's, but also I found it weird that she was in some sort of love triangle with Sleeping Beauty and the prince.

I DO like the twist that this is now a parallel storyline rather than a flashback and that parts of Fairy Tale Land still exist. That was exciting and different. And of course, necessary so Emma and Snow had a place to arrive.

Overall an intriguing season premier. Not quite as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as I feared. I feel like I'm withholding judgment at the moment.

How about you? Excited? Reserved? Confused? And what did you think about some of the twists and turns of this episode?

The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

SO I was able to finish The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer. He is a newbie author, but as some of you know, he is known for his role in Glee. His book was published by Little, Brown which is part of Hatchette Book Group. The cover art was done by Brandon Dorman, who also did work for Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, and Janitors by Tyler Whitesides. His illustrator website is here and his blog is here. There were illustrations at the beginning of every chapter (like with the Harry Potter books, if the reader is familiar with those). I loved the illustrations and thought they added to the book and the fairytale feel.

I am just going to note here something that sometimes bothers me: I am having to post this review at work since my home's internet is down, so I do not have Chris Colfer's book on me. I like to say who does the illustrations or the book cover art if possible. And sometimes, it is very difficult to find that information when a person does not have the book on them. (Although, sometimes even THEN it can be confusing, since sometimes the information is on the copyright page, sometimes it's on the jacket flap, sometimes it's on the back of the book, and so on.) I think more people are becoming aware of illustrators, but they are still oftentimes behind the scenes people. (Like copy editors. Not many people know who copyedited the most famous of books, but without them we would enjoy books less, because we would be distracted by all the little mistakes.) So, I encourage you to try and go over to Brandon Dorman's blog, if you like art and if you are able to follow blogs. Or just to leave him a comment if you have ever appreciated his artwork.

Alright, done with that rant. Moving on to the book!

I will be honest, the first two chapters were not wonderful. They didn't grab my attention and I was a little bit bored and it wasn't the bestly written. But, since I got an ARC from BEA I wanted to make my way through it. I'm so glad I did! The story is about twins who fall into a fairytale world. Once they get into the world it really picks up. I love how Colfer combines the different fairy tales, and gives them developed characters and backstories. Colfer has all the princess married to the Charming Brothers, which made me wonder if he had ever seen Into the Woods. BUT that is not really important.

As it went on I didn't want to put the book down. The twins have to gather objects for the Wishing Spell so they can get themselves home. BUT they have to gather the objects before the evil queen gathers the objects before them. (Which, by the way, I liked the new sin Colfer did with the Evil Queen.) The story is fast-paced and the world-building is done very well. I love Goldilocks. And Red Riding Hood was hilarious. One of the other things I liked was that I couldn't quite guess the ending. There were two options and I wasn't sure which one was right. I like being surprised by the ending. Sometimes with middle grade books you can guess the ending after the first five chapters, and that can annoy me. But not so with this book!

If you can get through the first two chapters, it is totally worth it. It is so much fun and I am glad I was able to getmy hands on a copy. You can find yourself a copy at...

B&N
Books-a-Million
And Indie Store near you!

Have a good week!

Fairy Interesting: Cinderella

Of all the fairy tales I think Cinderella is probably one of the most widely recognized and adapted. It's one of those rags to riches stories that just seems to latch onto people's imaginations. The idea for Cinderella has been around for a very long time and most versions share several consistent features.

Cinderella has a stepmother, an evil one who persecutes her and forces her to work as a servant/slave, and usually at least one stepsister - often two.


Cinderella gets outside help - whether from a tree near her mother's grave or a fairy godmother or a magic bull (in the Norwegian version). She also almost always receives help from woodland creatures such as mice or, particularly, birds.

Cinderella disguises herself in some way so the prince cannot recognize her when she isn't wearing her finery.

Cinderella loses her shoe and it is only through putting the shoe back on that the prince can recognize her and claim her as his rightful love. (Anybody else wonder if her feet were really so tiny that no other person in the ENTIRE kingdom could possibly fit into the shoe?! No? Just me? All righty then.)

But even these are not necessarily consistent across the board and there are so very many variations that it's not even possible to sum them up here. If you're interested, check out this site - you can read some of the different versions from all over the world.

A fur shoe, apparently.
Somehow I doubt this is
what it would have looked like :)

And, get this, the shoe isn't always glass. I know. I just ruined your life. Sometimes it's fur, sometimes gold, sometimes diamond, and sometimes it is glass. But in almost all versions there are 3 balls, not just one, and it's only at the last one that Cinderella manages to lose her slipper.

Most versions are a lot more violent than most people familiar with the popular children's versions know. In several versions, including the Grimm's tale, the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to wedge them into the slipper. As the prince leads them away to be his bride (sometimes knowing she is not his love, sometimes fairly oblivious) Cinderella's bird friends have to point out the BLOOD TRAIL behind them as proof that she is a false bride. Ew. And in several versions, once the prince finally does find Cinderella (but seriously, if he couldn't tell who she was without the shoe, is he really worth it?) she walks to the church with a bird on each shoulder. Her stepsisters walk on either side and on the way to the church the birds peck out one eye and on the way out of the church the birds peck out their other eyes. Again. EW! Can you imagine that in the Disney version?

(Someone please write a zombie version of this fairy tale. I think I would love you forever)

Apparently Emily Casey already did!
Ooh! Want!

Of course, those are just the variations of the folk tales - we haven't even touched on the adaptations that have been written and produced. You didn't have anything to do, right? I can keep you here for a couple hours? Oh, good :)

Here's a sampling of some of my favorite retellings:

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Basically, if it is written by Levine you should read it. I think this is true of all her books. Ever. I love her sense of humor and I am telling you almost no one can retell a well known story in such an unexpected way. The movie was cute, but the book? SO much better (imo). Ella is under a curse - a curse that makes her obey a direct command. From anyone. The characters are fun and believable, but it's the world-building that blows me away. It's so richly developed in such a short span of time.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George. This is actually the sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball (a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses), but you can totally read it as a stand alone. Both of these books blew me away. I love her style so much.

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry. This is one of those books that you think is going to be a Cinderella retelling and then you think it's not and then you think it is and you don't know what's going to happen and you fall in love with the goat and decide to buy every book the author has ever written. True story.

Then there's the Once Upon a Time series, which is a series of retellings of various fairy tales. Before Midnight was a lyric retelling of Cinderella by one of my favorite of the series' authors, Cameron Dokey. All of these books are really fun, fast reads that put some interesting spins on familiar tales.

Don't forget about one of the newest retellings Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I haven't had a chance to read this myself yet, but it looks amazing and I've heard fantastic things about it. In this version, Cinderella is ... a cyborg. Yup.

Or, if you'd rather get the ugly stepsister's side of the story you can try Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. It's told in Maguire's rich and fairly dense prose, but a really interesting story from the other side.

And I'm such a movie lover I have to throw out a couple of my favorites here too.

I'm a pretty big fan of A Cinderella Story starring Hillary Duff. A modern updated version of the tale that's sweet and fun and a great chick flick movie night movie.

One of my all time favorites is Ever After with Drew Barrymore. The character development is really well done and I think the second stepsister is adorable and probably my favorite character in the movie.

Of course I'm sure I've missed many. What are some of your favorite book or movie adaptations? Do tell!

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu is an Urban Fantasy based off of the famous stories of Hans Christian Anderson. A young woman named Hazel goes on a journey into a forest where everything is magical and nothing is pleasant like the settings of her favorite books.

The reason Hazel enters the woods is friendship. A childhood friend, named Jack, is taken by the Ice Queen after his heart becomes hard. Both Jack and Hazel are beginning to change from children to young adults. Instead of making up baseball stats for Jack’s favorite superheroes or playing Hazel’s make believe games they drift in opposite directions. All of the adults state that this is a part of growing up and entering middle school. Hazel senses something is wrong with Jack and knows in her heart that the cause is supernatural.

There are really two stories going on about one specific journey. Hazel is becoming her own person and slowly developing an independent identity. She must shed her old image to do it. Jack has always been her friend and now is Hazel’s chance to save him. As Hazel becomes more confident, she passes the tests of people who have changed into various twisted characters from classic fairy tales. The people from our world who travel into the enchanted forest change into woodsmen, ballerinas, witches and matchstick girls. Hazel is deciding whether or not she should be her own person, stay the same or conform to society’s expectations and become something she is not; not only in the woods but also at her new school.

For readers who are not familiar with the works of Hans Christian Anderson, his works reflect a specific ideology that is unique to his time period and culture. Also, it can be extremely violent and depressing. This book teaches the lesson that life can be hard and cruel even if magic is real.

The characters in the book are much more layered and complex than I can convey in a short review. This book is challenging and a great focal point to have a real discussion with children, students or book club members. It shows the influence stories have on people forever. Every chapter is full of lush and unique description of snow and it makes Breadcrumbs a perfect end- of- winter read. Hiding under a warm blanket with a cup of cocoa, while reading Breadcrumbs, is recommended.

Fairy Interesting: Little Red Riding Hood

I've always been fascinated with fairy tales. I love reading different versions of them and if you tell me that a book is based on a fairy tale I'll grab and read it in a heartbeat! So I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts looking at different retellings and versions of different tales. This month it's Little Red Riding Hood!

Everyone knows this story, right? An adorable little girl in a red hooded cape takes goodies to Grandma's house. In the woods she meets The Big Bad Wolf who tricks her into divulging her mission. He hurries off and manages to beat Red Riding to Granny's, eats the grandmother, and gets into her bed. When Red Riding arrives she is momentarily fooled by the wolf until she notices that Grandma's eyes and ears and canines have gotten abnormally large. And while glands might swell when your sick, your teeth don't normally change. So the wolf attacks the girl who, of course, screams bloody murder so a friendly neighborhood woodcutter comes to her rescue.

Pretty simple. Except, maybe you heard a version where Granny's just locked in the closet. Or maybe the one where Red Riding gets eaten too, but when the woodcutter cuts open the wolf, she and her grandmother are safe and sound inside. Or maybe the one where only Grandma gets eaten, but Red and the woodcutter are able to cut her out and then they fill the wolf's stomach with rocks and sew him back up again. Or perhaps the version where the wolf is actually a werewolf. Or maybe there wasn't a woodcutter at all; Red manages to outwit the wolf with her own sly cleverness by saying she has to pee and then sneaking off into the woods. Or maybe the one where the wolf makes Red take off all her clothes and get in bed with him before he eats her.

Yeah, you didn't see that last one coming, did you?

The story has been told for a very long time, but one of the first recorded versions is by Charles Perrault based on 17th century French tales. In his version both Red and Grandma die and it wraps up with a moral, warning that "Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say 'wolf,' but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all." SOURCE (This is a great source if you want to read some of the different variations. You can also read Perrault's version in the French if you like!)

This is the main moral attached to the story that has carried on through the years: don't talk to strangers. Because there's no better way to keep your little kids away from strangers than by telling them that their grandmother will be eaten by a wolf if they don't.


Of course, these are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to retellings of the story over the years.

One of the most recent adaptations was the young adult book by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright and David Leslie Johnson, which was then adapted for the big screen.
This book returned the fairy tale to some of it's older roots with the wolf as a werewolf/shapeshifter and had some interesting twists and turns to keep you guessing.

Or maybe you have a little quirkier taste and you prefer the multiple point of view unraveling of Hoodwinked! One of my family's favorite takes on the tale.



If you are interested in the history, you might like Sandra L. Beckett's Red Riding Hood for All Ages: A Fairy-tale Icon in Cross-cultural Contexts. The English Major in me is ALL over that one!

And of course, there are about four billion picture book versions for you to choose from if you want to share one of the simpler tellings with a child in your life, or the child inside :) Such as Honestly, Red Riding Hood was Rotten!; The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf by Trisha Speed Shaskan and Gerald Guerlais.

Jackson Pearce recently released Sisters Red, another twist with werewolves and magic and the choices sisters make. Neal Schusterman's Red Rider's Hood presents Red as a teen boy who ends up joining the Wolves gang to get revenge on the death of his grandmother. Ooh! Fascinating!

And, for those of you old enough to remember the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show, I leave you with one of the Fractured Fairy Tale versions!

What's your favorite Red Riding Hood take? Any I forgot? Please share in the comments!