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Summer Reading List: Out of Abaton Author John Claude Bemis’s Top 10 Fractured Fairy Tales
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John Claude Bemis is the author of the marvelously inventive Out of Abaton series, which breathes new life into the story of Pinocchio, complete with detailed world-building, danger, and magic. The second book in the series (which can also be read as a standalone), Lord of Monsters, hits B&N bookshelves on June 6. We asked Bemis to give us a summer reading list filled with his favorite “fractured fairy tales,” and his top 10 picks have left us with a teetering new to-be-read pile.
In my latest series, Out of Abaton, I have re-imagined Pinocchio in a dangerous Venetian Empire, where he’s a mechanical servant who is slowly coming to life. Along with the wanted criminal Geppetto and a blue-haired air elemental named Lazuli, Pinocchio is on the run from the Empire’s relentless airmen. While the first book The Wooden Prince drew inspiration from the original Pinocchio story, the second book Lord of Monsters takes our heroes in new directions, where they arrive as newly anointed royalty in Abaton and have to face the threat of ancient monsters returning.
The best “fractured fairy tales” take older stories and make them captivating for today’s readers. I had so much fun dreaming up a new take on Pinocchio and giving him a fantastical and expansive world in which to have extraordinary adventures. Here are 10 other “fractured fairy tales” that are my very favorites:
East, by Edith Pattou
The Norwegian fairy tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” is a less well-known variant of Beauty and Beast. Pattou’s retelling has an adventurous heroine, a polar bear with a mysterious past, and a richly imagined frozen setting.
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A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
Hansel and Gretel (and a ton of other Germanic fairy tales) are given exciting and often gruesomely hilarious connected storylines. Loads of fun!
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
Cinderella as a cyborg living in a far-future Beijing. Uh…yes, please.
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Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Any book with this level of white-knuckle adventure and laugh-out-loud humor always works for me. But what I particularly loved was how Barry and Pearson’s prequel was loaded with surprising explanations for all the various aspects of Neverland.
Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
While not exactly for younger readers, Maguire’s spin on the The Wizard of Oz has my favorite world-building of any “fractured fairy tale.” It’s deep and complex, something I aimed to do with Abaton and my magical Venetian Empire.
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Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
I’d be hard pressed to think of a more gripping opening page.
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (The Guardians Series #1)
William Joyce, Laura Geringer
3.8
Hardcover
$18.99
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Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, by William Joyce
Joyce just has so much fun taking beloved childhood “guardians” like Santa Claus and Easter Bunny in fantastical directions. I love re-imaginings that make it impossible to see the original stories in the same way ever again.
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Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Beautifully-done fractured fairy tales give the central characters compelling and unexpected motivations. Anderson’s perspective on Peter Pan and Tiger Lily tugged on my heart.
Snow White, by Matt Phelan
A beautifully illustrated graphic novel adaptation of Snow White set in 1920s Manhattan. Wait until you see who the seven dwarves are.
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The Jack Tales, by Richard Chase
Fractured fairy tales aren’t a new invention. The Appalachian folks turned the English folk character of Jack (as in “the beanstalk” Jack) into a wise-cracking, head-severing defeater of giants and witches in Chase’s collection gathered from the North Carolina mountains.
Lord of Monsters is out on June 6.