How to Fracture a Fairy Tale

September 24, 2018
Yolen (The Emerald Circus) has put together a thought-provoking collection of reprinted and original works that explore every aspect of fairy tales. Some tell old tales from a different point of view: wolves from many stories share their perspectives in “Happy Dens or a Day in the Old Wolves’ Home,” and readers get the bridge’s view of the troll in “The Bridge’s Complaint.” Many draw on serious moments of history, such as “Granny Rumple” and “Slipping Sideways Through Eternity,” which examine the persecution of Jews. Some common stories are restructured to have a different kind of happy ending: in “Cinder Elephant,” Elly is a fan of birds and books, and the prince falls in love with her for her brain. Other tales are somber or even distressing, such as “Allerleirauh,” in which a father marries his own daughter as a replacement for her mother. Readers will find most of these stories relatable and powerful in their messages, and Yolen’s notes about each work’s origin are so interesting that they’re worth rereading in their own right. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown Ltd.

October 15, 2018

A young West Virginian girl deals with a harsh stepmama and seven little miners in "Snow in Summer." A selfish princess meets a lusty amphibian in "The Golden Balls." A mermaid, a prince, and his bride learn that words and emotions ebb and flow like the tide in "The Undine." Fairy tales and other legends are broken apart, shards of stories are spun into new short sagas, deftly crafted in the hands of master storyteller Yolen. Recrafting well-known tales from different points of view or underlying themes and possibilities casts a new, and sometimes harsh, light on childhood stories. VERDICT With a glowing introduction by author Marissa Meyer, and an afterword with an author's note and poem for each story, this showcase of 28 tales highlights Yolen's delightful imagination and elegant writing in both poetry and short prose form. Her fans will be excited to see the well-crafted follow-up to The Emerald Circus.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2018
Award-winner Yolen follows The Emerald Circus? (2017) with an omnibus of 28 previously released short stories. Her well-honed talent for creating subtle twists to, or full-bore fracturing of, folk and fairy tales from across the globe is on full display here. Happy Dens; or, A Day in the Old Wolves' Home offers a commentary on retirement and bad press, told from the point of view of three famous (or infamous) fairy-tale wolves. Tapping into Asian lore, One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King follows three dutiful brothers who take on dragons and a troll to save their ailing mother. In The Undine, a prince seeks distraction before the arrival of his bride and entices a mermaid with promises of loving devotion. A Cinderella variation, Cinder Elephant celebrates being plump over being thin, big feet over small, and grass slippers over those made of glass. Mama Gone offers a sad vampire tale told by a brave and loving daughter. Fans will be delighted with the story notes and poems that cap off her fantastic collection of fairy-tale retellings and fractured legends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)