upon a time girls were locked in towers and saved by princes. Today, sometimes we lock boys in towers and the princess gets to save the day.
Fairy tales are tricky business. Here we just spent the last week talking about YA lit and how it influences body image, and now we’re talking about fairy tales. Without a doubt fairy tales can leave readers – girls especially – reeling in gender stereotypes and feeling disempowered. The original fairy tales usually didn’t even have happy endings. And now our happy endings are saccharine sweet and gag inducing. I, personally, get sick of waiting for the girl to wise up, use her brain or just save herself already!! But today’s fairy tales have a lot of cool twists and turn convention on its side. I won’t say that twisted fairy tales are always groundbreaking in the way they present women, but at least they put enough of a spin on the classic fairy tales (and just some good ole classics) as to be new, inventive, and a fun read. So here are 10 of my favorites.
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
This literary retelling of Peter Pan is simply AMAZING. Read my review, read this book. Our main character, Tiger Lily, is strong willed and torn between love and duty to her community. Seriously, this book is good.
Don't get me wrong, the Blue Sword is one of my favorite books of all time, but I was surprised to see it on this list rather than McKinley's Beauty:
http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Retelling-Story-Beast/dp/0060241497
It's been a long time since I've read it, but I do know McKinley always presents strong female characters, all of whom were definitely great role models for me growing up. I love that you're giving the Blue Sword props, but when I saw “Robin McKinley” at the top I was definitely expecting to see Beauty here!
I have to be honest, I don't think I have read McKinley's Beauty. I am a definite fan of Mckinley and imagine it would be a great addition to the list – but I hang my head in shame for not having read this one.
It’s true that the original fairy tales usually didn’t even have happy endings. And now our happy endings are saccharine sweet and gag-inducing. Nice list of 10 twisted fairy tale stories. Thanks for sharing!