Good YA Books Based on Myths and Fairy Tales
Discover the best YA books based on myths and fairy tales! Explore enchanting retellings and magical adventures inspired by classic legends and folklore.
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Quiver
by Stephanie Spinner
Greek gods and mortals spring to life in this riveting retelling of the myth of Atalanta, the fleet-footed girl warrior who could outrun any man in ancient Greece. Cast off and abandoned at birth, Atalanta– saved by a she-bear and raised by hunters–proves herself to be a superior archer and the fastest runner in the land. But her skills and independence anger many, including her father, the Arcadian King, who suddenly reclaims her and demands that she produce an heir to the throne. Atalanta has pledged herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who has forbidden her to marry. Unwilling to break her promise, Atalanta suggests a grim compromise: she will marry the first man to beat her in a race, but everyone she defeats must die. All the while, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Eros, and Zeus himself watch–and interfere–from on high.
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Lost in the Labyrinth
by Patrice Kindl
Fourteen-year-old Princess Xenodice tries to prevent the death of her half-brother, the Minotaur, at the hands of the Athenian prince, Theseus, who is aided by Icarus, Daedalus, and her sister Ariadne.
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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.
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The Poison Apples
by Lily Archer
At an elite Massachusetts boarding school, three fifteen-year-old girls of very different backgrounds discover a common bond and form a club to plot revenge against their evil stepmothers.
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Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
by Barbara Cohen
In an ancient Arab nation, one woman dares to be different.Buran cannot -- Buran will not-sit quietly at home and wait to be married to the man her father chooses. Determined to use her skills and earn a fortune, she instead disguises herself as a boy and travels by camel caravan to a distant city. There, she maintains her masculine disguise and establishes a successful business. The city's crown prince comes often to her shop, and soon Buran finds herself falling in love. But if she reveals to Mahmud that she is a woman, she will lose everything she has worked for.
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The Swan Maiden
by Heather Tomlinson
An age-old fairy tale told in a refreshingly original voice, this stunning, richly imagined debut novel depicts fantasy at its most eloquent.
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The Outlaws of Sherwood
by Robin McKinley
New York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley's vivid retelling of the classic story of Robin Hood breathes contemporary life into these beloved adventures-with Marian taking a pivotal role as one of Robin's best archers. Robin is an apprentice forester in the woods of Nottingham. The arrows he makes and sells earn barely enough extra coin to retain the title to his father’s small lands. The sheriff of Nottingham’s jealousy toward Robin’s father is just as fierce towards his son, and the sheriff’s men take every opportunity to harass the young woodsman. But when Robin defends himself by accidentally killing one of the sheriff’s men, he flees to Sherwood Forest, knowing that he has not only lost his father’s land and good name forever, but that he will live the rest of his days as a hunted man. But his friends Much, the miller’s son, and Lady Marian, Saxon daughter of the half-Norman lord who despises his Saxon blood, believe the disaster that has befallen Robin is also an opportunity: An opportunity for a few stubborn Saxons, cast out or outlawed in ways equally unjust, to gather together in secret under Robin’s leadership and strike back against the arrogance and brutality of the Norman overlords.