Fairy Tale Influenced Fiction 2008
Explore the best fairy tale influenced fiction books of 2008. Discover enchanting stories, magical retellings, and timeless folklore-inspired novels in this curated list.
Book
A Curse Dark as Gold
by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Charlotte Miller has always scoffed at talk of a curse on her family's woolen mill, which holds her beloved town together. But after her father's death, the bad luck piles up. Then a stranger named Jack Spinner makes a tempting offer: he can turn straw into gold.
Book
Thumbelina
by Barbara Ensor
In this expanded version of the Andersen fairy tale, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb becomes separated from her overprotective mother, has adventures with various animals, and records her feelings in a diary as she gains self-reliance and searches for someone to love.
Book
Cindy Ella
by Robin Palmer
Sophomore iconoclast Cindy's prom-bashing letter to her high school newspaper complicates her life when she develops a crush on her SAT tutor, added to the ones she has on a popular senior and a boy she has been instant messaging but has never met. Original.
Book
The Crimson Thread
by Suzanne Weyn
"Once upon a Time" Is Timeless The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold." Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns -- with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious....
Book
Don't Hex with Texas
by Shanna Swendson
Everything’s bigger in Texas—including romance, magic, and danger! Katie Chandler has fled fast-paced Manhattan and returned home to a simpler life, working at her family’s feed-and-seed store in Cobb, Texas. In a painfully selfless gesture, Katie had left the sexy wizard Owen Palmer to battle his demons in the magical realm–after all, Katie just seemed to attract evil, which only made Owen’s job a lot harder. But now it seems that trouble has followed her home: Despite the fact that Merlin, Katie’s old boss at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., has assured her that Cobb is free of enchantmen, (magically speaking), Katie begins to notice curious phenomena. Cobb is being plagued by a series of inexplicable petty crimes and other devilish mischief, and after her experiences in Manhattan, Katie knows “unauthorized magic” when she sees it. As this new darkness strikes deep in the heart of Texas, Owen appears (literally) to investigate. Now Katie’s friends and family must show the bad guys why it’s bad luck to hex with Texas, while Katie and Owen combine their strengths like never before to uncover a sinister plot before evil takes root in the Lone Star State.
Book
Aurelie
by Heather Tomlinson
Once upon a time, three children and a little river dragon were the best of friends—until a promise was broken. Now they are almost grown up and barely speaking to one another. Of the four, it is Princess Aurelie who feels the loss the most. How can she prevent a war when she can’t even make her friends get along? Heartsick at losing her dearest companions, Aurelie finds comfort in the beauty of fairyland. But a princess can’t hide from her duties forever. Her country needs her, and so do her friends, whether they know it or not. Aurelie is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Book
The Sisters Grimm Book 6
by Michael Buckley
When a kangaroo court of Everafters, led by Judge Mad Hatter, tries Mr. Canis for his past crimes as the Big Bad Wolf, the Grimms seek evidence to save their friend, although Sabrina questions whether he should be saved.
Book
Rapunzel's Revenge
by Shannon Hale
Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother. Every day, when the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the garden wall . . . a rather enormous garden wall. And every year, as she grew older, things seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond. Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale teams up with husband Dean Hale and brilliant artist Nathan Hale (no relation) to bring readers a swashbuckling and hilarious twist on the classic story as you've never seen it before. Watch as Rapunzel and her amazing hair team up with Jack (of beanstalk fame) to gallop around the wild and western landscape, changing lives, righting wrongs, and bringing joy to every soul they encounter.
Book
Fables
by Bill Willingham
Who killed Rose Red? In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case - and, along with Rose's sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams.
Book
The Bad Prince
by Bill Willingham
Last seen hitchhiking from Hollywood, Jack is now a wayward fable in the heartland of America. His extreme road stories and encounters with other notorious, renegade fables are just a few of the situations in store for this fan-favorite character.
Book
Belle
by Cameron Dokey
Belle is convinced she has the wrong name, as she lacks her sisters' awe-inspiring beauty. So she withdraws from society, devoting her time to wood carving. Secretly, Belle longs to find the fabled Heartwood Tree. If carved by the right hands, the Heartwood will reveal the face of one's true love. During a fierce storm, Belle's father stumbles upon the mysterious Heartwood -- and encounters a terrifying and lonely Beast. Now Belle must carve the Heartwood to save her father, and learn to see not with the eyes of her mind, but with the eyes of her heart.
Book
Impossible
by Nancy Werlin
When seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers her family is under an ancient curse by an evil Elfin Knight, she realizes to break the curse she must perform three impossible tasks before her daughter is born in order to save them both. Inspired by the ballad, "Scarborough Fair."