Fall into a fractured fairy tale…..

                               Kill me softly by Sarah Cross

 A girl struggles to escape her fairy-tale fate in this suspenseful fantasy. Mira will turn 16 in a few days. Though she loves her godmothers, she wants to return to the city of her birth and find her parents' graves, one of the many things that her godmothers forbid. She runs away and travels to Beau Rivage, not knowing that the town is magical and that she risks death by returning. She quickly meets a boy she instantly dislikes, Blue, who has blue, spiked hair and seems to enjoy insulting her. But Blue's older brother Felix charms her and gives her a free luxury room in the family's casino hotel. Mira can't understand why everyone warns her not to spend time with Felix, and she quickly falls in love with him. Finally, Mira learns that she, with the other teens in the story, is cursed to live out fairy tales. She finds herself caught in not just one foretold fate that threatens her, but two--and the second could kill her. Cross, who knows her fairy tales, weaves a number of them into her story, giving them interesting twists as she applies them to her vulnerable and rebellious teen characters. Earnest Freddie, cynical Viv and captivating Felix all stand out as the archetypes they're supposed to embody, and as individuals as well. Clever fun. (Fantasy. 14 & up)(Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2012)

               My Fair Godmother and My Unfair Godmother

                                                                     by Janette Rallison

A decidedly non-serious 16-year-old Virginia student wishes herself into fairy-tale land in Rallison's giddy, ornately plotted fantasy. Savannah Delano pays more attention to her hair than her vocabulary, unlike her 18-year-old college-bound sister, Jane. When gorgeous track star Hunter dumps her for her more organized, responsible sibling, Savannah is offered three consolation wishes by a bored, shopoholic fairy godmother, "Chrissy" (short for Chrysanthemum). That Chrissy's just "fair" at her job comes clear when she fouls up Savannah's wish to find a prince who loves her for her true qualities, sending her back into the Middle Ages first as Cinderella, then Snow White, then as a damsel in distress who has to aid a poor warrior bard (fellow high-schooler Tristan Hawkins) in becoming a prince. Tristan proves both an intrepid prince and prom date, allowing Savannah to forget her heartbreak, as Rallison throws in everything but the kitchen sink in this goofy, not terribly convincing departure from her usual more realistic fare (All's Fair in Love, War and High School, 2003, etc.). (Fantasy. 10-14) (Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2008)

 

The sequel to My Fair Godmother (2009) pits the distracted, wayward Chrysanthemum Everstar, moonlighting as a tooth fairy while maneuvering to enter Fairy Godmother University, against a confused 17-year-old girl who acts out angrily in response to the divorce of her parents. Tansy Miller's idyllic childhood was ruptured when her parents move to separate states; eventually she is sent to live with her librarian father—formerly her beloved reading buddy, now remarried in Rock Canyon, Ariz.—and mistakenly believes that a handsome, motorcycle-riding boyfriend named Bo will offer her the love she needs. Tansy's unhappiness attracts the attention of the fairy godmother apparatus: Chrissy tenders the requisite three wishes, which Tansy, in true teenage fashion, duly botches, and a really madcap scenario involving Robin Hood and his mangy Merry Men ensues. Moreover, Tansy's desire to have "something like the Midas touch, but more controllable," hurls her back into the Middle Ages to spin gold out of straw before Rumpelstiltskin snatches her firstborn. Rallison's pull-out-all-the-stops latest strains reader credulity (again!), but it's so determined to be likable and warmhearted and press all the right buttons that readers will surely be rooting for Chrissy and Tansy anyway. (Fantasy. 12 & up) (Kirkus Reviews, 

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

In a noir caper with racial overtones, the Big Bad Wolf's son escapes from juvie and uncovers an ugly corporate plot to corner the fairy-dust market. With all the fairies suddenly gone from the floating city of Eden, the only magic left to the evolved wolves, dwarves, goblins, cats, elves and foxes in the earthbound city below comes in adulterated form from the dust mines of human-owned Nimbus Thaumaturgical ("Better Living Through Enchantment") or illegally through the nixie mob. Determined to find out what really happened to the fairies, Henry Whelp becomes a nixiedust runner and discovers horrors both below ground and in the aerial realm—capped by the revelation of a genocidal scheme to develop a bad dust that will cause all of the "animalia" species to revert to their bestial originals. There's only a glimmer of hope that some fairies survive, but with plenty of help from an attractive lupine photojournalist and a sack of very special beans passed on by a human thief named Jack, Henry takes on the foes of multispecies amity. Weston deftly tucks his fairy-tale tropes into this thought-provoking mystery. (Fantasy/mystery. 11-13)(Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2010)  

Cloaked and Beastly by Alex Flinn

Flinn reimagines a fairy-tale world in her latest novel. Teenaged Johnny works as a cobbler in his mother's shoe repair shop in a posh hotel in South Beach. He spends his days with his friend Meg and designs his own line of shoes while dreaming of wealth to free his family from the confines of poverty. Unexpectedly, the striking Princess Victoriana of Aloria comes to the swanky Miami hotel for a royal visit. The super-hot partying princess pleads for Johnny's help in finding her missing brother, and offers of money and a royal marriage convince him to take her seriously—even when she explains that the prince has been turned into a frog. With the aid of a magical cloak and some headphones that allow him to hear animals speak, Johnny embarks on a journey wherein he encounters talking swans, a fox named Todd, and two angry giants. When he lands in hot water with an evil witch bent on destroying him, Meg comes to his rescue. The pair journey from South Beach to Key West, to Europe, and to Manhattan; and in the end, Johnny finds wealth, fame, and true love. Flinn cleverly plays on some lesser-known fairy tales to make this book a fun, romantic adventure with likable characters. Rapid action and amusing situations make it a quick read that will easily entice even reluctant readers.—Tara Kehoe, Plainsboro Public Library, NJ --Tara Kehoe (Reviewed February 1, 2011) (School Library Journal, vol 57, issue 2, p107)

Cavalier and cruel, Kyle Kingsbury rules as prince of an upper-crust school until he angers the wrong Goth girl, who casts a spell that makes him look as ugly as his inner self. When claws, fur and fangs appear, Kyle is confined to a Brooklyn brownstone, where he grows roses, paws through The Hunchback of Notre Dame and IMs other transformed kids. Flinn's contemporary adaptation of Beauty and the Beast pulls fairy tales and classics like Phantom of the Opera into the context of modern teen life. Kyle's hilarious chat-room sessions most effectively exploit clever convergences of old and new. Chris Anderson moderates (sans Hans), while BeastNYC (Kyle), Froggie (a webbed prince) and SilentMaid (a little mermaid) offer support using the virtual vernacular. Teens will LOL. They will also find their preoccupations with looks, status and pride explored thoroughly. When Lindy, Kyle's Beauty, moves in, much of the interesting adaptive play recedes, but teens will still race to see if the beast gets his kiss, lifts the curse and lives happily ever after. (Fiction. YA) (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2007)

Also look for books by the following authors:  Robin McKinnley, Jessica Day George, Cameron Dokey, Wendy Delsol or Zoe Marriott