Popular Retellings

1) Stone blind: a novel

Author

Haynes, Natalie

Notes

A retelling of Perseus and Medusa

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023

"Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories."—Telegraph (UK)

The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar returns with a fresh and stunningly perceptive take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman.

They will fear you and flee

...

2) Oreo

Author

Ross, Fran

Series

A New Directions paperbook

Notes

A retelling of the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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A pioneering, dazzling satire about a biracial black girl from Philadelphia searching for her Jewish father in New York City Oreo is raised by her maternal grandparents in Philadelphia. Her black mother tours with a theatrical troupe, and her Jewish deadbeat dad disappeared when she was an infant, leaving behind a mysterious note that triggers her quest to find him. What ensues is a playful, modernized parody of the classical odyssey of Theseus with...

3) The Penelopiad

Author

Atwood, Margaret

Series

Myths series

Notes

The Odyssey, but from Penelope's point of view.

Description

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Homer's Odyssey is not the only version of the story. Mythic material was originally oral, and also local -- a myth would be told one way in one place and quite differently in another. I have drawn on material other than the Odyssey, especially for the details of Penelope's parentage, her early life and marriage, and the scandalous rumors circulating about her. I've chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids....

4) The star-touched queen

Author

Chokshi, Roshani

Series

Star-touched queen volume 1

Notes

A retelling of the Hades and Persephone story

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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"Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected....

5) Cinder

Author

Meyer, Marissa

Series

Lunar chronicles volume 1

Notes

A retelling of Cinderella

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Cinder is 16 years old and works as a mechanic. Her past is a mystery. You would think her present could not be worse but her stepmother is constantly denigrating her. Everything changes when she meets Prince Kai. She finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic war and an impossible love. She doesn't know whether to choose freedom or victimization. After all, she is special. She's the only hope...just like in fairy tales...

6) Red wolf

Author

Vincent, Rachel

Notes

Little Red Riding Hood retelling

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eBook

Description

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When fulfilling her duty as a shapeshifting guardian for her village means abandoning the young man she loves, the future she imagines with him, and her values, sixteen-year-old Adele must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her friends and neighbors safe.

7) Thorn

Author

Khanani, Intisar

Series

Dauntless Path

Notes

A retelling of the Goose Girl fairytale

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook

Description

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To escape her cruel family and contemptuous court, fifteen-year-old Princess Alyrra is willing to marry Prince Kestrin but when she magically swaps lives her nemesis, she may find happiness as a commoner.

8) The Girls at the Kingfisher Club: a novel

Author

Valentine, Genevieve

Notes

A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses

9) As I descended

Author

Talley, Robin

Notes

a Macbeth retelling

Formats:

Book, Book - Paperback, eBook

Description

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Publisher Annotation: Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school's ultimate power couple but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn't know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything, absolutely anything, to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. After...

10) The jumbies

Author

Baptiste, Tracey

Series

The jumbies (Tracey Baptiste) volume 1

Notes

a retelling of "The Magic Orange Tree"

Formats:

Book - Hardback, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Eleven-year-old Corinne must call on her courage and an ancient magic to stop an evil spirit and save her island home.

11) Vassa in the night

Author

Porter, Sarah

Notes

a Baba Yaga retelling

Formats:

Book, eBook

Description

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Publisher Annotation: Vassa in the Night is an enchanting, modern retelling of the Russian folktale "Vassilissa the Beautiful" for young adults by the critically-acclaimed author, Sarah Porter.

12) We Were Liars

Author

Lockhart, E

Series

We were liars volume 1

Notes

a King Lear retelling

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer.

13) Winterspell

Author

Legrand, Claire

Notes

A Nutcracker retelling

Description

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To find her abducted father and keep her sister safe from the lecherous politicians of 1899 New York City, seventeen-year-old Clara must journey to the wintry kingdom of Cane, where Anise, queen of the faeries, has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime.