Tag: Retelling

Posted in So Many Good Books, YA Novels

Beastly

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

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Modern-day Retelling

“Unexpected Changes” chat group chats mix in with Kyle’s side of the story in Beastly (HarperTeen, 2007) by Alex Flinn. This book is not just a modern day Beauty and the Beast. Though it is that, too, with a character having to examine the darkness within. It’s also a story about being abandoned by parents and new friendships. There’s even some humor. And don’t you just love the cover?
The story will be made into a movie for release in 2010! But read the book first.
Read more about this young adult author at her website: www.alexflinn.com.

Posted in So Many Good Books, YA Novels

A Curse as Dark as Gold

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

curse.jpgA Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce is more than just a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.  It feels like real people with believable problems in a real setting and time period.

Here’s a brief introduction:  Charlotte’s father dies, and she struggles to keep the family’s woolen mill running.  The family is in debt; the mill is cursed.  Her mother’s uncle turns up to take them away “from all this” but she and her sister refuse.  If the mill dies, so does the village.  A stranger, Jack Spinner, shows up and Charlotte accepts his offer of help.  But what will be the cost?

A Curse as Dark as Gold (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008) has already won awards:  Smithsonian 2008 Notable Children’s Book; ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2009; William C. Morris YA Debut Award, 2009; CCBC Blue Ribbon.  Congrats to this debut author!  (Who is also a very nice person.)

Learn more about Elizabeth at her website or at her blog.  I’ve heard she made some costumes for the time period of her book, too.