The Southbury Public Library
   
Here's where to find our list of recommended books that are retellings of classic literature and fairy tales. If you would like to help make new lists or add on to an existing list call Heather @ 262-0626 or email at haronson@biblio.org.
 
Archer, Jodi Lynn
  The Poison Apples 2007
  We all know the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel. But have you ever heard of Alice Bingley-Beckerman, Reena Paruchuri, or Molly Miller? Of course you haven't. Not yet. What these girls have in common with their fairy tale sisters is this: they are the stepdaughters of three very evil stepmothers. And they're not happy about it. They think they are alone in their unhappiness until they arrive at Putnam Mount McKinsey, a posh boarding school located in lovely rural Massachusetts. Here is where they will plot their revenge. But first they have to meet.
   
   
Baker, E.D.
  The Frog Princess 2002
  After reluctantly kissing a frog, an awkward, fourteen-year-old princess suddenly finds herself a frog, too, and sets off with the prince to seek the means--and the self-confidence--to become human again.
Sequels include Dragon's Breath
   
   
Baratz-Logsted, Lauren
  Crazy Beautiful. 2009
  In this contemporary retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," a teenaged boy whose hands were amputated in an explosion and a gorgeous girl whose mother has recently died form an instant connection when they meet on their first day as new students.
   
   
Beddor, Frank
  The Looking Glass Wars 2006
  When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart finds herself living in Victorian Oxford as Alice Liddell and struggles to keep memories of her kingdom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne.
Sequels include Seeing Redd and ArchEnemy
Companion books include Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars and Hatter M: Mad with Wonder
   
   
Bennett, Veronica
  Angelmonster 2006
  Fictionalized story of Mary Godwin, author of the horror classic "Frankenstein," and her relationship with poet and freethinker Percy Shelley, who ran away to Europe to escape gossip and social ostracism in London, and who endured tragedy and terrible losses repeatedly in her life.
   
   
Berry, Julie
  The Amaranth Enchantment. 2009
  Orphaned at age five, Lucinda, now fifteen, stands with courage against the man who took everything from her, aided by a thief, a clever goat, and a mysterious woman called the Witch of Amaranth, while the prince she knew as a child prepares to marry, unaware that he, too, is in danger.
   
   
Block, Francesca Lia
  Psyche in a Dress 2006
  A young woman, Psyche, searches for her lost love and questions her true self in a modern retelling of Greek myths.
   
   
Bunce, Elizabeth
  A Curse Dark as Gold. 2008
  Upon the death of her father, seventeen-year-old Charlotte struggles to keep the family's woolen mill running in the face of an overwhelming mortgage and what the local villagers believe is a curse, but when a man capable of spinning straw into gold appears on the scene she must decide if his help is worth the price.
   
   
Cabot, Meg
  Avalon High 2006


Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellie enrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur and his court.
   
   
Cannon, A.E.
  The Loser's Guide to Life and Love. 2008
  Over the summer, Salt Lake City high school student Ed McIff works at a video store, wearing a shirt with the name Sergio on it, and when a beautiful girl comes in one day, he decides to take on a new, more suave identity, resulting in a series of misunderstandings and star-crossed encounters.
   
   
Cooney, Caroline
  Enter Three Witches 2007
  Lady Mary's life is forever changed when her father, Lord Cawdor, betrays the Scottish king and is hanged as a traitor. Now a ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth, she's trapped in a castle with a power-hungry couple who will do anything to get what they want in this retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy.
   
   
Dokey, Cameron
  Before Midnight 2007
  A retelling of the tale about a girl whose father remarries and the effects that her stepmother has on the family.
Part of the 'Once Upon a Time' Series
   
   
Dokey, Cameron
  Golden 2006

 

Rapunzel has only two nights and one day in which to free a girl from a curse.
Part of the 'Once Upon a Time' Series
   
   
Dokey, Cameron
  Sunlight and Shadow 2004
  Mina, a child of the dark, marries a prince and before they can be happy they must endure deadly trials.
Part of the 'Once Upon a Time' Series
   
   
Durst, Sara Beth
  Into the Wild 2007
  Having escaped from the Wild and the preordained fairy tale plots it imposes, Rapunzel, along with her daughter Julie Marchen, tries to live a fairly normal life, but when the Wild breaks free and takes over their town, it is Julie who has to prevent everyone from being trapped in the events of a story.
Sequels include Out of the Wild.
   
   
Fiedler, Lisa
  Romeo's Ex : Rosaline's Story 2006
  In a story based on the Shakespeare play, sixteen-year-old Roseline, who is studying to be a healer, becomes romantically entangled with the Montague family even as her beloved young cousin, Juliet Capulet, defies the family feud to secretly marry Romeo.
   
   
Finn, Alex
  Beastly 2007
 

A modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student who is turned into a monster and must find true love before he can return to his human form.

   
   
Friesner, Esther
  Nobody's Princess 2007
  Determined to fend for herself in a world where only men have real freedom, headstrong Helen, who will be called queen of Sparta and Helen of Troy one day, learns to fight, hunt, and ride horses while disguised as a boy, and goes on an adventure throughout the Mediterranean world.
Includes sequel Nobody's Prize
   
   
Gardner, John
  Grendel 1971
  Recounts the Beowulf legend from the viewpoint of the monster.
   
   
George, Jessica Day
  Princess of the Midnight Ball. 2009
  A retelling of the tale of twelve princesses who wear out their shoes dancing every night, and of Galen, a former soldier now working in the king's gardens, who follows them in hopes of breaking the curse.
   
   
Geras, Adele
  Ithaka 2006
  The island of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors demanding that Penelope choose a new husband, as she patiently awaits the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War.
   
   
Geras, Adele
  Troy 2001
  Told from the point of view of the women of Troy, portrays the last weeks of the Trojan War, when women are sick of tending the wounded, men are tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses find ways to stir things up.
   
   
Gruber, Michael
  The Witch's Boy 2005
  A grotesque foundling turns against the witch who sacrificed almost everything to raise him when he becomes consumed by the desire for money and revenge against those who have hurt him, but he eventually finds his true heart's desire.
   
   
Hale, Shannon
  Book of a Thousand Days 2007
  Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.
   
   
Harrison, Mette Ivie
  The Princess and the Hound 2007
  George has always felt burdened by his princely duties, and even more by the need to hide the magic through which he speaks with animals, but when he is betrothed to the strange princess of a neighboring kingdom, his secret, and the persecution of people like himself, must come to an end.
   
   
Kerr, M.E.
  Someone Like Summer 2007
  An upper-middle-class white girl from Long Island and an immigrant worker from Colombia fall in love despite objections from both their families and their community.
   
   
Klein, Lisa M.
  Ophelia 2006
  In a story based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia tells of her life in the court at Elsinore, her love for Prince Hamlet, and her escape from the violence in Denmark.
   
   
Korman, Gordon
  Son of the Mob 2002
  Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.
   
   
Lester, Julius
  Cupid : A Tale of Love and Desire 2007
  Cupid, the spoiled and mischievous god of love, is attracted to and marries the beautiful mortal, Psyche, and both learn many lessons about the nature of love.
   
   
Levithan, David
  Marly's Ghost 2005
  The spirit of Ben's girlfriend Marly returns with three other ghosts to haunt him with a painful journey though Valentine's Days past, present, and future.
   
   
Maguire, Gregory
  What-the-Dickens 2007
  As a terrible storm rages, ten-year-old Dinah and her brother and sister listen to their cousin Gage's tale of a newly-hatched, orphaned, skibberee, or tooth fairy, called What-the-Dickens, who hopes to find a home among the skibbereen tribe, if only he can stay out of trouble.
   
   
Mourlevat, Jean-Claude
  The Pull of the Ocean 2006
  Loosely based on Charles Perrault's "Tom Thumb," seven brothers in modern-day France flee their poor parents' farm, led by the youngest who, although mute and unusually small, is exceptionally wise.
   
   
Napoli, Donna Jo
  Bound 2004
  In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.
   
   
Napoli, Donna Jo
  Breath 2003
  Elaborates on the tale of "The Pied Piper," told from the point of view of a boy who is too ill to keep up when a piper spirits away the healthy children of a plague-ridden town after being cheated out of full payment for ridding Hameln of rats.
   
   
Nichol, Barbara
  Tales of Don Quixote 2004
  A retelling of the exploits of an idealistic Spanish country gentleman and his shrewd squire who set out, as knights of old, to search for adventure, right wrongs, and punish evil.
   
   
Pattou, Edith
  East 2003
  A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment. A retelling of the classic tale "East of the sun and west of the moon."
   
   
Rhys, Jean
  Wide Sargasso Sea 1966
  Story of a young woman in the Caribbean whose family's past will be used against her by her cold-hearted and prideful husband, Rochester.
   
   
Shusterman, Neil
  Dread Locks 2005
  Accustomed to a carefree existence, fourteen-year-old Parker Baer meets the girl next door and finds his life taking a menacing turn as he begins to absorb some of her terrible powers.
   
   
Shusterman, Neil
  Duckling Ugly 2006
  When sixteen-year-old Cara, a girl ugly enough to break mirrors, is drawn to a place where everyone can be beautiful, her deepest desire is to return home to say goodbye--and get revenge.
   
   
Slade, Arthur
  The Hunchback Assignments. 2009
  In Victorian London, fourteen-year-old Modo, a shape-changing hunchback, becomes a secret agent for the Permanent Association, which strives to protect the world from the evil machinations of the Clockwork Guild.
Sequels include The Dark Deeps
   
   
Spinner, Stephanie
  Quicksilver 2005
  Hermes, Prince of Thieves and son of Zeus, relates why the seasonal change, the history of the Trojan War, his friendship with Pegasus, and many more adventures. Hermes-also known as Mercury, Wayfinder, and Prince of Thieves-has many talents. Wearing his famed winged sandals, he does the bidding of his father Zeus, leads the dead down to Hades, and practices his favorite arts of trickery and theft.
   
   
Stanley, Diane
  Bella at Midnight. 2006
  Raised by peasants, Bella discovers that she is actually the daughter of a knight and finds herself caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life and the kingdom forever.
   
   
Vande Velde, Vivian
  The Book of Mordred 2005
  As the peaceful King Arthur reigns, the five-year-old daughter of Lady Alayna, newly widowed of the village-wizard Toland, is abducted by knights who leave their barn burning and their only servant dead.
   
   
Yolen, Jane
  Briar Rose 2002
  Rebecca has always loved listening to her grandmother's stories about Briar Rose. However, the old woman's astonishing and hard-to-believe admission that she "is" Briar Rose sets Rebecca on an unforgettable path of self-discovery that will change her life forever.
   
   
Yolen, Jane
  Sword of the Rightful King 2003
  Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England--pulling a sword from a stone--but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.
   
   
Yolen, Jane
  Troll Bridge 2006
  Sixteen-year-old harpist prodigy Moira is transported to a strange and mystical wilderness, where she finds herself in the middle of a deadly struggle between a magical fox and a monstrous troll.
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

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