Tales Retold

Fairy tales are recycled, did you know that?  Originally, the tales of Cinderella and Snow white, not to mention the others, were stories for adults, filled with violence and lots of blood and awful occurrences.  As adults got bored with those stories, they were sanitized for children.  For instance, in the real Little Mermaid, Ariel is told that in order to get her voice back, she must kill the Prince and his new bride on their wedding night.  She goes in with the knife and finds she is unable to kill him.  In her despair, she flings herself from the window and dies on the rocks below the tower.  Let’s see Disney do a version of that! 

Fairy tales are coming back into popularity for older readers, this time for young adults.  Of course, older adults are welcome to read them, too, and we won’t tell if you decide to take a look through the Young Adult section – you’d be surprised how many older readers do!  The plots are just as complex as the regular adult fiction.

Here are some retold tales to get you started!

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

In this retelling of Cinderella, the heroine is a cyborg – a human being with robotic parts.  She is viewed poorly by society, but she has a knack for fixing anything robotic, including herself.  At her weekly market booth, the Prince appears with an android that needs fixing before the annual ball and Cinder gets the feeling it’s more serious than it sounds.  She would love to go to the ball, but instead of managing it, she ends up as a guinea pig for plague research when her step-mother volunteers her body for science.  It doesn’t take long for the scientists to learn how miraculous her integration really is.  Can she still make it to the ball and steal the heart of the prince?  After all, cyborgs have feelings, too!

Cinderella, Ninja Warrior, by Maureen McGowan

I know, two Cinderellas, but they couldn’t be more different!  In order to escape from her step-mother, Cinderella hides the fact that not only does she know magic, she’s a ninja.  While I would love to tell you more, this book is also a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure kind of books, where you get to decide what sort of decision Cinderella should make – the tale is different every time!!

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst

White Bear King Valemon is retold in this beautiful story.  Cassie lives in an Artic research station with her father.  Her grandmother tells her stories to explain her mother’s absence, that she made a deal with a polar bear king and disappeared.  Cassie simply believes this is an allegory for death, until her eighteenth birthday when she meets a polar bear out on the ice.  The bear speaks to her, telling her that her mother is still alive and imprisoned and that he can rescue her if Cassie agrees to marry him.  What follows is the journey of a life-time, not only physically, but emotionally as well.  Will Cassie meet her mother again and learn the true meaning of love and family?

Princess at the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George

Do you remember the tale of the twelve dancing princesses? Rose is the eldest of the twelve, enchanted to dance every night for a wicked King at his palace deep underground.  It began with a curse, and can only end with their deaths.  Then Rose meets a boy and things seem much less grave.  They only need a few items for an escape plan: an invisibility cloak, a magical chain, and true love.  Will it work?

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn

Sleeping Beauty comes into a new life in this retelling.  Told from the point of view of both the kissee and the kisser, this book is quite entertaining.  She made the mistake of touching the spindle and ended up sleeping for nearly 300 years – now she’s stuck with the boy who kissed her, who is a bit upset that he did so in the first place.  Not only will they have to learn to get along, but they’ll have to win over his parents in the long run.  Will love triumph over time in this tale?

Have a beautiful day today – the sun is (hopefully) shining and gardening has started again.  And we can all build up those flip flop callouses that we lost during the winter!

Your Library Account: If you have an email, register it with your library card by calling the library at 507-825-6714 or by logging in to your account online and requesting a change!  By putting an email on your card, you will automatically get reminders when your books are overdue and you will also get an email the moment a book on hold is checked in for you at the desk!  We do not use your emails for any other purpose and our system is private.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  We will be having an upcoming Family Tree day where families attending will be able to create their own frame-worthy family tree with the help of volunteers from the Minnesota Historical Society.  Our local museum will also be on hand to tell you how you can begin researching your family right here in Pipestone.  Stay tuned for more information!!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Give us a call to find out the date of the next meeting!

Book Club Reminder: The book club meets the last Thursday of the month.  Their next meeting will be May 23rd at 7:00 in the Meinders Library conference room.  The book is Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Board School by Adam Fortunate Eagle.  Please don’t hesitate to call the library for a copy of the next book.

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.