| Articles: Happily Ever After? Teens and Fairy Tales by Diane P. Tuccillo (1/9) |
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"Once upon a time." This opening line will conjure up myriad fairy tales in your mind I am sure, as readily as "...and they all lived happily ever after." How many times, though, have you considered these same fairy tales as attractive reading material for teens, both boys and girls? If you haven't, you may be surprised.
My teen book review group at the Mesa Public Library, called the Young Adult Advisory Council, or YAAC for short, keeps me on my toes about what is hot and what is not for teen reading. As Ella Peterson, one of YAAC's members, says, "I think that modern retellings of classic fairy tales are wonderful. They retell the traditional tales in a way that relates the colorful plots and loveable characters of the past to today's much different world. Whether the fairy tale has a moral or is just a great story, the retelling of a childhood favorite in a modern day context definitely helps us to imagine old familiar stories in a whole new way."
In the last few years, teen interest in books based on fairy tales has bloomed. When Robin McKinley's new book, Spindle's End was recently published, teens were excited, and a library reserve list formed. Spindle's End is a wildly imaginative and surprising retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. Teens seem to like the variations and surprises in retellings, which sets the books apart from traditional fairy tales.
When one book becomes popular, another by that author usually follows suit, and that has been the case with McKinley's titles. Teens here have shown renewed interest in her book, Deerskin, a frank and expansive version of the original controversial tale, Donkeyskin.
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