Waiting On Wednesday: April Fairytales!

Waiting On Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, The Book Rat, and A Backwards Story are hosting the Fairy Tale Fortnight.  In honor of that very fun event, I decided to highlight three new fairytale retellings coming out next month.  All three are middle grade and all summaries are provided by the publisher.

FROGGED by Vivian Vande Velde

How can I resist a new book by Vande Velde? She's tackled fairytales before, so I'm sure FROGGED will be fantastic.

One should be able to say of a princess “She was as good as she was beautiful,” according to The Art of Being a Princess (third revised edition), which the almost-thirteen-year-old Princess Imogene is supposed to be reading. Not feeling particularly good, or all that beautiful, she heads for a nearby pond, where, unfortunately, a talking frog tricks her into kissing him. No prince appears, as one might expect. Instead, the princess turns into a frog herself! Thus launches a funny, wonderfully spun fractured fairy tale in which Imogene wonders if she will be forever frogified.

THRICE UPON A MARIGOLD by Jean Farris

This is the third book in Jean Ferris' terrific Marigold series. Not a direct retelling, but the series has a fairytale sensibility.

Princess Poppy, the bouncing baby daughter of Queen Marigold and King Christian of Zandelphia-Beaurivage, is in terrible danger. The kingdom’s former torturer-in-chief and poisoner-in-chief have joined forces to kidnap the baby as an act of revenge for their exile! Can a ragtag parade of rescuers—including the king and queen, the evil kidnappers’ mortified children, five dogs, a white elephant, and a washed-up wizard—save Princess Poppy in time?

RUMP: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Sutcliff

I am not familiar with Sutcliff, but this novel looks super cute!

In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke.

Rump has never known his full name—his mother died before she could tell him. So all his life he's been teased and bullied for his half-a-name. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. For Rump discovers he can spin straw into gold. Magical gold.

His best friend Red Riding Hood warns him that magic is dangerous—and she's right! That gold is worth its weight in trouble. And with each thread he spins, Rump weaves himself deeper into a curse.

There's only one way to break the spell: Rump must go on a quest to find his true name, along the way defending himself against pixies, trolls, poison apples, and one beautiful but vile-mannered queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—Rump just might triumph in the end.

An inventive fairytale retelling, perfect for fans of Gail Carson Levine or Shannon Hale.