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)Â (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
Set in 19 century England, Keeping the Castle is Austen's Pride and Prejudice distorted by the strength, humor and sarcasm of 17 year old Althea Crawley. The story line follows Althea as she attempts to hold on to her impoverished family's crumbling castle by the only means available--marrying a wealth man. Anyone familiar with Austen's work will recognize Kindl's subtle spoof of the limitations imposed upon women during this time period. I enjoyed Althea's ingenuity as she continued to find ways of keeping up the appearance of wealth-- serving her neighbors reused tea bags as they sat on furniture that literally crumbed underneath them. This book was a quick, fun, slightly familiar read.
The setting of For Darkness Shows the Stars is an island cut off from whatever remains of a world destroyed by a genetically engineered DNA experiment gone horrible wrong. Elliot North is trying desperately to keep her family's farm running despite her father and older sister's selfish acts of cruelty and wastefulness. Four years ago she refused to leave the farm to travel with her best friend Kai, feeling honor bound to stay to protect the farm workers from her father. Now Kai is back and determined to make Elliot regret her decision. This book is Austen's Persuasion in a post-apocalyptic world that argues the benefits of scientific intervention verses allowing nature to take its course.
