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Mystery / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Romance / Humor / Contemporary / Historical Fiction / Retold Fairy Tales & Legends / Biography & Autobiography / Nonfiction / Write a Book Review / How to Find a Good Book / |
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Mystery / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Romance / Humor / Contemporary / Historical Fiction / Retold Fairy Tales & Legends / Biography & Autobiography / Nonfiction / Write a Book Review / How to Find a Good Book / |
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Retold fairy tales and legends, along with all the other types of fantasy, are particularly popular with "the most voracious, curious, and imaginative young adult readers" (MacRae xiv). MacRae quotes fantasy and science fiction author Orson Scott Card, "Adolescence is a natural time for science fiction and fantasy to be the literature of choice, especially for the best and the brightest" (MacRae 1-2). Fantasy holds great appeal for young adults. During an often confusing and turbulent period of their lives, the archetypes of fantasy and fairy tales provide answers and reassurance. "When reality bites, readers can escape into fantasy and learn to bite back….The real appeal of fantasy lies not in denying the complex problems of the real world, but in reassuring readers that ordinary people can tackle them" (Caywood 152). Terri Windling, in her introduction to Tam-Lin states, "Once upon a time, fairy tales were written for young and old alike. It is only in the last century that they have been deemed fit only for children and stripped of much of their original complexity, sensuality, and power to frighten and delight." Tor's The Fairy Tale Series novels, edited by Windling, are based on a specific tale with each author free to retell that story in their own way showing the diverse uses a modern storyteller can make of traditional material. Reading interest surveys suggest more girls than boys are YA readers. This bibliography, both by the general subject matter and by the chose of individual titles, attempts to reach out to both genders. Since research shows that paperbacks are the preferred format for books for young adults, the majority of titles listed are available as paperbacks. In addition, research suggests that the fantasy genre is unique in that its readers read across grade levels. Young adult fantasy fans are as likely to be reading a 3rd to 5th grade reading level book as a 900-page adult fantasy novel. The bibliographies reflect this "all ages welcome" attitude. This is also a bonus for reaching out to reluctant readers since a variety of reading levels are available, for example, for the customer looking for a book about King Arthur. Retold fairy tales and legends are also an excellent multicultural tool. They can be used to compare and contrast cultural similarities and differences. For example, young adults can compare a number of versions of the Cinderella story (see annotated bibliography) to explore not only commonalties of the fairy tale among cultures but also what is emphasized by different cultures. Because of their lack of experience and satisfaction in the reading of fiction, many young adults have little understanding of literary conventions. Retold fairy tales and legends may provide them with the needed background. They also work well with groups of mixed reading abilities or in a reading program that matches young adults with younger readers. Jane Yolen has retold a number of fairy tales and legends, often patchworking together a variety of tales from different cultures. In Touch Magic, she says, "Folklore reflects the society that creates it. Modern art tales, borrowing characters and cadences from the folk, take on this mirroring quality, too. They reflect both the individual and the society…But these stories come out of and then go back into society, changing the shape of that society in turn" (Yolen 27-28). Terri Windling agrees, "The wealth of material from myth and folklore at the disposal of the story-teller (or modern fantasy novelist) has been described as a giant cauldron of soup into which each generation throws new bits of fancy and history, new imaginings, new ideas, to simmer along with the old. The storyteller is the cook who serves up the common ingredients in his or her own individual way, to suit the tastes of a new audience. Each generation has its cooks, its Hans Christian Andersen or Charles Perrault, spinning magical tales for those who will listen" (Dean ix). Teachers can use the classic fairy tale along with several different cultural and modern retellings as the springboard for creative writing projects. Children are more likely to respond to fantasy on an emotional level where as adults are more analytical. Young adults, who combine traits of both children and adults in their response to literature, do both. Fairy tales are a natural match with young adults. In his classic study, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, psychologist Bruno Bettelheim said: Adolescence is a period of great and rapid change, characterized by periods of utter passivity and lethargy alternating with frantic activity, even dangerous behavior to 'prove oneself' or discharge inner tension. This back-and-forth adolescent behavior finds expression in some fairy tales by the hero's rushing after adventures and then suddenly being turned to stone by some enchantment. More often, and psychologically more correct, the sequence is reversed….While many fairy tales stress great deeds the heroes must perform to become themselves, [others] emphasize the long, quiet concentration on oneself that is also needed….In major life changes such as adolescence, for successful growth opportunities both active and quiescent period are needed….An adolescent must leave the security of childhood, which is represented by getting lost in the dangerous forest; learn to face up to his violent tendencies and anxieties, symbolized by encounters with wild animals or dragons; and get to know himself, which is implied in meeting strange figures and experiences (Bettelheimn 225-226). Popular young adult and children's author Jane Yolen argues that in today's media influenced world, young adults lack references to the ancient myths and fairy tales that fill a basic developmental need:
YA author Tamora Pierce also sees special value for young adults in fantasy, …[Young adults] respond to the idealism and imagination they find in everything they read. They haven't spent years butting their heads against brick walls; the edge of their enthusiasm, and of their minds, is still sharp. They take up causes….Young adults are also dreamers; this is expected and, to a degree, encouraged, as they plan for the future. Their minds are flexible, recognizing few limits… [However, they also need the fuel that fires idealism.] That fuel can be found---according to the writings of Jung, Bettelheim, M. Ester Harding, and Joseph Campbell---in the mighty symbols of myth, fairy tales, dreams, legends---and fantasy (MacRae, p.160). Pierce identifies the elements of fantasy that attract young adults as:
(MacRae, p. 160) Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults: An Annotated Bibliography quotes critics Francis J. Molson & Susan G. Miles: Young adult fantasy flourishes today because it satisfies two genuine needs of the audience it is designed to reach. The first is aesthetic. Young adult fantasy at its best is very effective storytelling, providing believable characters, stimulating description, original setting, and distinctive writing….The second need is psychological….Youth do need and deserve assistance as they confront the central concerns of adolescence….Young adult fantasy provides imaginative and vicarious opportunities to identify and empathize; to try out different roles or assume new faces; or to pursue different options or to take off in new directions. As an especially effective medium of dramatizing the journey of self-discovery or coming of age, young adult fantasy assists in revealing to adolescents that they are not immortal, that evil exists both within and outside, that they are capable of great evil as well as great good, and that they must make choices or render judgements if they are to grow into authentic adulthood. (Lynn, p. xxxi) Fantasy and fairy tales have been called subversive by a number of authors and critics. Part of the job of young adults is to recreate themselves and their world, to question and challenge what they have inherited. "It can be tremendously subversive. For the few hours it takes to read a book, you get somebody else's idea of what's important, of the moral stance to take, of how one treats other people. When you've spent several hours immersed in someone else's value system and culture, you'll come out looking at yours differently….all literature should do it, but science fiction and fantasy are able to deliver it to you in a way that gets around the barriers you set up against receiving information you don't agree with" (Bull 4). Lurie agrees, "Folktales are among the most subversive texts in children's literature. Often, though usually in disguised form, they support the rights of disadvantaged members of the population-children, women, and the poor-against the establishment. Law and order are not always respected: the master thief fools the count and the parson, and Jack kills the giant and steals his treasure. Rich people are often unlucky, afflicted or helpless…while the poor are healthy and enterprising and fortunate" (Lurie 16). Fairy tales and legends can be used to express whatever is muted, suppressed, or compromised in mainstream culture. Lurie and Bettelheim argue fairy tales tell us that children already know some of the secrets of adult life of which they are supposed to be ignorant. Serious ethical, political, and social issues are addressed in the best fantasy and always in fairy tales. Although some critics have argued that fairy tales and folklore are damaging to children---violent, immoral and unrealistic---the truth is that "the fairy tales had been right all along---the world was full of hostile, stupid giants and perilous castles and people who abandoned their children in the nearest forest. To succeed in this world you needed some special skill or patronage, plus remarkable luck; and it didn't hurt to be very good-looking. The other qualities that counted were wit, boldness, stubborn persistence, and an eye for the main chance. Kindness to those in trouble was also advisable-you never knew who might be useful to you later on" (Lurie 18). Young adults are a large and growing segment of the population. Encouraging their voluntary reading and library use is essential in creating lifelong readers and library users. Libraries can also make a real difference in their present lives. Fantasy, and its sub-genre of retold fairy tales and legends, is an especially appropriate and successful motivational tool to help meet these goals. The archetypes of fairy tales and legends can provide adolescents with answers, reassurance, and the opportunity to safely explore new thoughts, values, and self-identities. Retold fairy tales and legends allow young adults to both link with the past and create their own future by adding their voices to the old tales. |
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