If, like me, you’ve been waiting for Winter (the next installment of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, due out in November 2015), and you love reading fairy tale retellings or modern fairy-tale-like stories, here are some books to enjoy in the meantime (or anytime this winter!). Most will appeal to teens and adults, with some geared for upper elementary and on up.
First consider Shannon Hale:
- The Books of Bayern is a quartet about strong women (mostly) with exceptional natural abilities.
- The Book of a Thousand Days and The Princess Academy
If you like the political intrigue of Lunar Chronicles, consider Kiera Cass’s The Selection, The Elite and The One—a futuristic world kingdom with a “Bachelor”-like contest to decide the future queen.
And if it is space heroes and future earth you like—consider Earth Girl by Janet Edwards, about a girl bound to the forgotten Earth who saves the world.
Donna Jo Napoli’s Bound is a retelling of a Chinese Cinderella story, while Beast is “Beauty and the Beast,” set in Persia and told from the Beast’s point of view.
These next selections have appeal for adults and teens, but are also a good level for older elementary and middle school kids.
Jessica Day George’s Dragon Slippers, Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear follow the adventures of a young seamstress who meets a dragon and unwittingly renews a war between the kingdom and the dragons while falling in love with a prince. (This series is a little reminiscent of Patricia Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which starts with Dealing with Dragons.)
Robin McKinley is a perennial favorite: Beauty is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast while the Hero and the Crown and the Blue Sword plus many others, stand in their own right.
And don’t forget Gail Carson Levine: Fairest, Ever, Ella Enchanted and many others.
-Contributed by Patty