Tandem Insights

Fairy Tales for Teens

Once upon a time fairy tales were only read to children, but once upon an even older time fairy tales were meant for adults just as much as kids.  These days there are versions of various fairy tales for all ages, including plenty of options for teens.  There are the creative re-imaginings that combine several stories like Sarah Beth Durst’s Into the Wild, this week’s Book of the Week.  And there are others that bring one story alive like the classic Beauty by Robin McKinley. 

Whatever the story’s origin, fairy tales often involve some kind of magic and a transformation.  A peasant girl becomes a beautiful princess.  A simpleton becomes a hero.  And so on.  All of these stories reflect the culture from which they came.  As do modern fairy tales like Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block.  This post-modern fairy tale may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly captures the magical world of Los Angeles in which Weetzie lives, and the genie from the lamp transforms her life as he grants her wishes.

Writers are getting inventive when it comes to the genre of fairy tales.  For example, Enchantment by Orson Scott Card takes Sleeping Beauty’s story and gives it a time travel twist. Or perhaps you like more realistic stories?  Try Letters From Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes.  Candace Brogan is a modern day girl looking at life through the stories her father used to tell her.  She takes on the name Rapunzel and writes from what feels like an isolated tower in this endearing middle school novel.

There’s something for everyone in this list of fairy tale retellings, spoofs, and adaptations for middle and high school collections.

Fiction Based on Fact

Sometimes the best stories don’t come entirely from a writer’s imagination.  They come from history.  Fact-based fiction remains a popular choice with many teens for its element of truth while still telling a good story.  Here are a couple of ideas why and examples of titles that fit the bill for your teens who can’t get enough fact-based fiction:

Fact-based fiction is a welcome departure from textbook study as YA readers are looking for other ways to learn about major historical events and other curricular areas of study.  Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary Lyons, which relates a fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, is told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina as she prepares for escape to the North in 1842.

YA readers are increasingly interested in books with intense and emotional past and present events.  Fact-based fiction can provide a more intimate connection to the people involved.  Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev is a good example of this as it is based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.

When fact-based research provides a solid foundation for a book, couple it with a story in the language, as well as political and cultural climate of the time, and the past comes alive.  This up-close and engaging view challenges YA readers to think “outside the box” and see the world beyond their daily dealings.  Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo is a great example of a fictionalized account that can help teens cultivate a global perspective.  This story of a Pakistani child who escaped from bondage in a carpet factory and went on to help liberate other children like him before being gunned down at the age of thirteen may make the world a bigger place for many teens who aren’t familiar with life in that part of the world.

All types of fiction, including fact-based fiction, can be a form of escapism.  Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer tells of the passion and romance between the world’s most famous playwright and the woman who risked everything to be with him.  A great choice for your teens who love historical romance or who are fans of the bard.

Check out this list of Fiction Based on Fact with the titles mentioned above and more for your MS and HS students.

Biographies for Teens

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  And these biographies prove it.  Don’t let your teens be satisfied with any old bio that has over 100 pages.  Convince your teens that biographies don’t have to be boring. 

Start with a familiar name.  YA author Chris Crutcher has written his childhood into a book, King of the Mild Frontier.  Fans of his fiction will not want to miss this inside scoop and those who are looking for a funny story will also find themselves hooked into this bittersweet biography.

Then move on to a memoir of a regular girl.  Grief Girl by Erin Vincent is written like a novel with the present tense prose making the story feel immediate even though it all took place back in 1983 when Erin’s parents both died within a week of each other when she was fourteen.  Brutally honest and ultimately uplifting, this memoir is not to be missed.

A great biography is also a great story.  Check out these great life stories for your middle and high school students.

If You Like Twilight...

So your YA girls can’t get enough of Bella Swan and her star-crossed romance with the incredibly gorgeous vampire Edward? Maybe some of them even prefer Bella’s werewolf friend Jacob who also happens to be madly in love with her. They’ve already devoured Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Breaking Dawn, the continuation of this love story, won’t be out for a whole very, very long year. What books are out there to satisfy the romantic cravings of those YA girls? We’ve created a list of some titles we think might just take the edge off the long wait.

Wicked Lovely features fairies instead of vampires, and instead of Aislinn wanting to become a fairie, she desperately wants to stay human. But there’s still a love triangle with lots of lovely tension. The Summer King needs Aislinn to become his Summer Queen. Aislinn has always been taught to avoid fairies. Besides, she has a human boyfriend whom she loves to distraction. Unfortunately for her, the wicked Winter Queen has other ideas, and Aislinn is swept up in a faerie war. Her limited options are death, reign as Summer Queen, or, failing that, become the Winter Girl, as all failed potential Summer Queens are cursed to do. This one felt a lot like Twilight to me, with the world of the faeries colliding with that of the humans with Aislinn caught between the two.

The fantastic and romantic are in evidence from the beginning in Keturah and Lord Death. Keturah, a storyteller, lost in the woods and close to death, meets a surprisingly dashing Lord Death. She spins him a story about a girl searching for true love. However, the story has no ending, so Lord Death allows her one more day to find her true love. But as Keturah examines her life and her village, she begins to wonder who her true love really is – the local lord’s son or Lord Death himself. Keturah, like Bella, is an outsider among a group of close-knit locals; she's always felt herself to be apart, different, which can be a very appealing aspect to a teen trying to navigate the treacherous currents of adolescence.

Here it is: vampires and werewolves together in the same book. In Tantalize, Quincie, human, loves with a hybrid-werewolf, Kieran, and works in a vampire-themed restaurant. This time it's the werewolf who does not want to return the hero's affections, for fear of hurting her. When the chef at the restaurant is murdered, werewolf-style, suspicion falls on Kieran. But what’s up with the new chef and his bizarre menus? Not to mention Quincie’s increasing dependence on a blood-red beverage…

For more great suggestions for your Stephenie Meyer fans: If You Like Twilight...