Eleven Noteworthy Fairy Tale Books from 2011

It's that time again for me to present a list of my favorite noteworthy books from last year. I've been looking over all books I read, picking out my favorites and remembering them all. Last year I did some unusual reading it seems, peculiar yet similar themes kept popping up all year long, from time traveling to mysteries abounding with Sherlock Holmes. Some books were frighteningly fluffy, others peerless literature. Some featured Victorian werewolves and vampires in a steampunk setting, and others had bizarre aliens, and one had a very strange dancing cat.

I always try to find the most fairy-tale-esque books to list here, keeping with our fairy tale theme. There are retellings, stories in the fairy tale style and books that resemble a fairy tale in some way or other. Not all the books came out last year, some I just discovered and read for the first time.

The eleven books are in no particular order. I've broken them down into categories: Fairy Tales for Adults, Fairy Tales for the Kids (both YA and Children's), and lastly, to mix things up, I have a one from a Graphic Novel.

Fairy Tales for Adults

The Most Resourceful Orphan Prize: Eliss from The Bird of the River by Kage Baker
Kage Baker won a prize last year for her novella Hotel under the Sand. This one is just such a fantastic story too. It probably doesn't count as a fairy tale, but I couldn't not mention this story. Orphans are a classic fairy tale character, right?

Best use of video games in a literary novel : Luka and the Fire of Life by Salaman Rushdie. I mentioned Rushdie's new book before.

"Will his hedgehogs and plumbers help with that?" She said, "Will his 'pisps' and 'wees' get him through school? Such names! They sound like going to the bathroom or what."
     Rashid began to smile placatingly. "The term is consoles," he began, but Soraya turned her heel and walked away, waving one hand high above her head. "Do not speak to me of such things," she said over her shoulder, speaking in her grandest voice. "I am in-console-able."

Luka's quest to save his father should not be missed, especially if you're familiar with Rushdie's other book, Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Winner of the Strangest Hair in an original fairy tale: Felix from The House of Discarded Dreams by Edaterina Sedia

"First thing about Felix that she - or anyone, for that matter - noticed was his hair. It wasn't merely long or big; it undulated. The color of it was darker than black, a purse absence of light, so dense that no individual strands were visible. Occationally this alarming hair reared up like tongues of flame, and then ebbed, calmed, and returned to its peaceful slow and hypnotic movement."  

While Felix is a secondary character, his hair has a very interesting role. It contains some kind of extra dimension inside of it. Poor guy.

Best Dive from a platform into a pit of Gators: Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
 I read a short story by Karen Russell that featured some of the same characters. I loved how she fleshed out the story. It deserved it. It's set in the Florida Everglades at a run-down theme park called Swamplandia! and follows the Bigtree siblings. Their mother, Hiloa Bigtree, whose famous for her high dive performance into the gator pit, just passed away recently. They are learning to cope. Its not a story for the faint fo heart, but it is gorgeous.

Winner of the most abused wife in a fairy tale: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
A fantasic retelling of an african folk tale, about a much mistreated woman whose husband is the fatest, laziest man ever.
　

Fairy Tales for Kids

Winner of Best Quest: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Here is a wonderful asian folktale/fairy tale. It has a great little adventure and the quest is about perfect as a quest can be. (Luka's quest was good too, it gets an honorable mention since it already won for another category.) A girl named Minli sets out to find a way to change her family's fortune. I really enjoyed it. You can find out more on the website.

Best Happy Ending in a fairy tale: Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
For some reason I didn't realize this was a fairy tale retelling until I was getting toward the end. Suddenly it occured to me, hey this is exactly like Cinderella, except it's set in China! And after that, even though I knew the ending, it was still so satisfying.

Winner of the Longest Title and Best Travel Companion Ever: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
I guess every year I must read a book with a ridiculously long title. I have to do a proper review of this book. It's so gorgeous. I mean the girl is named September and she rides around on the Leopard of Little Breezes. Fantastic stuff! There is a free preview on her website. So you can check it our right now. Here: http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/

Best use of origami in a fairy tale story: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
A clever story that mixes the fairy tales of Red Riding Hood and Snow White and Rose Red. Beware it has werewolves! Very well written. There is a wonderful scene where origami plays an unexpectedly important role, as a symbol of something patheticly useless compared to fighting monsters and saving people's lives.

Winner of the Classic All-American fairy tales: The Wizard of Oz book series by L. Frank Baum.
I began reading the Oz books this year for the first time. I hadn't read them before. It gets quite interesting after the familiar first two books. Dorothy's adventures keep going and going. These are classic American fairy tales.


Graphic Novel

Winner of the Worse Mother: A manga short story called "Iguana Girl" from Drunken Dreams and Other Stories by Moto Hagio.

It is a beautiful story. Beautifully drawn and exquisitely told. About a girl growing up as a iguana. Is she or isn't she? Does her mother hate her because she looks like an iguana? There are some more pictures from the book on Fantagraphics' website.

There you have it. Some of my favorites from the past year.