Plot Summary:  After the curse that forces Poppy and her sisters to dance night after night in Princess of the Midnight Ball was broken, she decides she has had enough of dancing and balls, thank you very much.  When she travels to Breton to help rebuild relationships and alliances, she gives in to her hosts and agrees to attend a ball or two but not to dance.  If anyone could persuade her otherwise, it might be the charming and handsome Prince Christian, but he seems to have eyes only for the mysterious Eleanora, whose gowns dazzle and shoes of glass sparkle.  But what is Eleanora giving up for such magnificent beauty?  Poppy and her friends are determined to find out.

Critical Analysis:  This companion to George’s Princess of the Midnight Ball is charming, romantic, witty and lots of fun.  A retelling of the Cinderella story with a twist that one of the main characters has given up dancing.  The plot and packing seems to move faster than Midnight Ball, and if I have one quibble, it is that because Poppy is for the most part outside of the enchantment until the very end, the story does not have the same sense of urgency and danger that the first book has.  That being said, so refreshing to read a fantasy that doesn’t feel the need to go on and on and on for hundreds and hundreds of pages for no real reason.

I love the world that George has built, the details of a fairy godmother is anything but an old grandmotherly type, the description of the ball gowns, how the glass slippers came about, the horse and carriage and everything add to this magic world where things are not always what they seem.  I am excited for the thought that there are many more of Rose and Poppy’s sisters left for George to use as a basis to retell still more fairy tales and to continue to build this world.

Readalikes:  There are many wonderful Cinderella retellings available.  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine comes to mind, as does Ash by Malinda Lo.  For another view of the fairy godmother, look for Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon.

Review Excerpts: “In a clever reworking of the Cinderella story, George once again proves adept at spinning her own magical tale. Fans of Donna Jo Napoli’s retellings will cheer loudly as George proves her own mettle.”–Booklist

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary: The only thing that Scarlett March loves more than her sister Rosie is hunting and killing the Fernis or werewolves.  As children, a werewolf killed their grandmother and took Scarlett’s eye as she defended and protected Rosie.  With the help of Silas, the neighboring woodsman’s son, they determine that there is a Potential, a human who can be turned, nearby, and move to Atlanta in hopes of trapping as many werewolves as possible when they find him.  Rosie longs for a life outside of hunting, and she and Silas feel forced to hide their romance from Scarlett.  But it is Silas’s hidden secret that may destroy them all.

Critical Analysis:  This is less a retelling and more a re-imagining or expansion of the familiar Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale.  Pearce does an excellent job of building the world of the March sisters and setting the rules for the Fernis (werewolves.)  The sisters’ grandmother is dead, Silas’s father is going senile, so there is no one for them to turn to and they are forced to figure it out and fight for themselves. a typical set up for a young adult novel.  Throw in Scarlett’s obsession with her cause, Rosie’s longing for a new life, a romance of stolen moments and a huge secret and you’ve got a recipe for a novel that teens, especially girls, will gulp down before coming to ask if there will be a sequel.  The gorgeous eye catching cover doesn’t hurt either.  I’m sure I could be nit picky, I mean, do we really need to read so many long drawn out fight scenes?  Do the characters need to spend so much time on research or visiting the grocery store?  In the end, I was just happy to be swept along by the story, and I think most readers will as well.

Review Excerpts: “Hints of a dark Little Red Riding Hood in today’s often violent world as one young woman wages a never-ending war against those whom most will view as sexual predators.”–Children’s Literature

“Pearce modernizes the story of Little Red Riding Hood, creating a novel filled with bravery, romance and loyalty….teens who savor the supernatural will enjoy this suspenseful tale.”–VOYA

“Pearce is on the mark with this modern-day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood….this well-written, high-action adventure grabs readers and never lets go. Rosie and Scarlett are true heroines; smart, tough, and determined…A satisfying read with a fantastic cover.”–School Library

“Despite plenty of gore and werewolf transformations, it’s the compelling love stories that drive the tale—the sisters’ affection for each other, the first breathless flush of infatuation between Rosie and Silas, and Scarlett’s love of the hunt.”–Booklist

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  You just think you know the real Cinderella story.  What if the fairy chosen to be Cinderella’s godmother was not old but young?  What if she had sneaked into the palace and fallen for the prince herself?  What if Cinderella didn’t want to go to the ball?

Critical Analysis:  Dual narratives, both by Lil, the titular godmother, show different pictures, different worlds, different people.  In the present, Lil is a broken old woman forced to hide her fairy wings from the public.  She works in a rare book store by day and spends her nights trying to fill her emptiness with diner food and television shows.  Contrasted with her past self, a young bright fairy with beautiful fairy sisters and friends, excited to be chosen for the honor of being Cinderella’s godmother but young enough, reckless enough to show herself to the prince and fall for him.

Turgeon’s writing is lyrical, lilting, she makes Lil’s longings real.  This is not a happy story, even when Lil decides the only way back is to right the wrong she put into motion so long before and plays fairy godmother to her boss and a beautiful young woman who comes into the bookstore one morning.  This story manages to combine sadness and futility with abundant hope and a painful twisty ambiguous ending that will stay with the reader long after the final page.

Readalikes: Not so much a readalike, but more like a read with, Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George reimagines the Cinderella story as a romance with a much more sinister fairy godmother.

Ash by Malinda Lo is another retelling, this one with a fairy godfather and a broken hearted Cinderella who will do anything to escape her stepmother and return to the woods she considers home.

Review Excerpts: “[R]eaders expecting magical carriages and glass slippers will be surprised by the novel’s morose tone, and though the surprise conclusion doesn’t quite work, Turgeon’s takes on nostalgia and regret are surprisingly clear-eyed given her narrator’s unbalance.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“[A] decidedly different take on Cinderella….Lil is complex and appealing, and vivid imagery and lyrical writing give shape to a charmer with a very satisfying, enigmatic ending.”–Booklist

“[T]houghtfully peels away the layers of fairy-tale convention and delves deeper into the notion of true love-its cost, its power, its rarity, and its beauty. Romantics and fans of fairy stories of all kinds will be enthralled by this latest take on the Cinderella story.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Having lost first her mother and and then her father to a mysterious illness, broken-hearted Ash is forced to do her stepmother’s bidding, but longs to return to the woods near her family home and dreams of being captured by and riding with the fairies.  When she meets Kaisa, things start to change, but is it too late to break her pact with the fairy Sidhean?

Critical Analysis:  This lush and dark retelling of the Cinderella story is unique because while it has some of the bones of the original tale, it is not a literal retelling of the story.  Lo has added depth and layers to Ash and her world, and the story becomes something else altogether:  first a tale of grief and bereavement where Ash wonders if she has the strength to continue on.  She feels like she doesn’t , which is where the hope of being captured by fairies comes in–if she is going to be miserable, why not at least be in a place and with beings that she longs for.

But when she meets someone, her world changes.  She has something and someone to stay for, to live for,  a life outside of her stepmother’s reach and love she thought was lost. It is to Lo’s credit that she shows that not just romance, but love can take many shapes and sizes, that everyone is worthy and deserving.  I like that in Ash’s world this isn’t such an odd idea, it just is.

I really enjoyed the fey parts of this story.  The volume of fairy tales that Ash clung to, the village woman who knows the old ways but is pushed aside by doctors, the tales told around the table, and most of all, Sidhean.  I liked that Lo made him multi-dimensional, with just a few scenes and actions, the reader realizes that he must have had a past with Ash’s mother, and while he wants Ash for himself, he keeps sending her back to her world.

The style and tone of the writing add to lushness and often darkness of the story, and I can see and feel the forest, the chill, the cold.  I can also see the hunt, the huntress, the festival and the ball in detail in my mind’s eye.  A fully dimensional world that I can only hope Lo plans to revisit.

Connections: This would be a great addition to a unit or study on the many variations of the Cinderella story in picture books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, and even a few adult novels.  There is a partial list on wikipedia but there are many more out there.

Review Excerpts:  “This debut, a retelling of Cinderella in which the heroine falls in love with a beautiful huntress rather than a prince, should establish Lo as a gifted storyteller…Lo offers an important twist on a classic story that will appeal to a wide readership, especially those looking for a girl romance.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“An unexpected reimagining of the Cinderella tale, exquisite and pristine, unfolding deliberately…Beautiful language magically wrought; beautiful storytelling magically told.”–Kirkus Reviews

Plot Summary:
Despereaux Tilling was a very small mouse with huge ears whose mother was surprised to see him live past birth.  His older siblings admonished him for his interest in reading stories and being lured by the sound of music. The entire mouse population in the Kingdom of Dor – including Despereaux’s own parents – decided to banish the undersize Despereaux when they discover that he spoke with the King and Princess Pea.  When asked to renounce his actions to the Mouse Council, Despereaux instead admitted his love and devotion to the fair Princess Pea, and was promptly hauled down into the darkest dungeon, which was populated by unscrupulous rats.

And that is just the beginning of the tale that involves several other castle-dwellers; including Roscuro, the young rat who is entranced by light, and Miggery Sow, the pathetic orphan servant.  All three lead a powerful ensemble of characters who collaborate to create a magical sequence of emotional discoveries.

Critical Analysis:
This 2003 Newbery Award winning fairy tale was organized by Kate DiCamillo into four parts that unfold gracefully to reveal an exciting, heartwarming story.  The narrator consistently addresses the reader throughout, and the messages are endearing, meant to invoke a powerful resonance.  There is a wide spectrum of themes sprinkled into the story; specifically love, anger, compassion, regret, and of course, desperation.  The book is recommended for children grade 3 and up, but younger audiences may only be able to absorb a fraction of the intended scope of human feelings that are brought forth by the story.  Adult readers can enjoy the rich complexities of life’s lessons while still being entertained by the a well-paced adventure story.  The narrator also occasionally suggests looking up certain words in the dictionary to fully understand their meaning – which is helpful advice for elementary students – but adults shouldn’t have a hard time understanding the meaning through context.

Timothy Basil Ering added intricately detailed pencil drawings to the embellish the chapters with depictions of major scenes, but the drawings don’t threaten to conflict with the imagery in the reader’s mind.  This is the kind of timeless story that doesn’t necessarily need to be fully illustrated or made into a motion picture, but due to anthropomorphism and exaggeration of certain details, the simple drawings help emphasize size and scale.

Review Excerpts:
Booklist (starred review): “Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious.” – Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

School Library Journal: “The unpredictable twists of plot, the fanciful characterizations, and the sweetness of tone are DiCamillo’s own. This expanded fairy tale is entertaining, heartening, and, above all, great fun.” – Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.