Tag: retellings

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2027) Featured Review: Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet

  • Beth Is Dead
  • Author: Katie Bernet
  • Narrated by Caitlin Kelly, Emily Tremaine, Ferdelle Capistrano, and Piper Goodeve
  • Simon and Schuster Audio
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026 
  • ISBN: 9781668157596

The March sisters are as famous as their father who wrote a wildly controversial bestseller based on their lives. Feminists excoriate him for taking advantage of his daughters, and stalkers are doing the freaky things stalkers do, so there are plenty of suspects when Beth March winds up dead at the bottom of a ravine. Determined to discover her killer, Jo March begins a dogged search for answers. 

Four heavy hitting narrators bring the story to life with pitch perfect renditions of the March sisters. Past and present events are telegraphed well, and the vocal mannerisms are distinctive, keeping this complexly plotted reimagined classic clear for readers.

This is an ideal suspense/thriller listen for teens who liked That’s Not My Name written by Megan Lally and narrated by Sophie Amoss and Robb Moreira, or 49 Miles Alone written by Natalie D. Richards and narrated by Victoria Rillarreal, Laura Knight Keating, and Suzy Jackson.  For teens who are looking for reimagined classics, suggest Rosa By Any Other Name by Hailey Alcaraz and narrated by Victoria Villarreal or Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu with narration by Sandy Rustin.

-Jodi Kruse

Other Nominated Titles

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Follow YALSA’s The Hub on YouTube for exclusive author interviews!

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2027) Featured Review: Winter White by Annie Cardi

  • Winter White
  • by Annie Cardi
  • Union Square & Co. 
  • Publication Date: January 27, 2026
  • ISBN: 978-1454960584

Pia and her younger brother live with their father, Leo, on an isolated farm in rural Maine. Their father says they must stay on the farm for their own safety. Leo has a temper so it’s best that they do as their father says. An accident puts Leo out of commission and for the first time, Pia must go to town by herself and continue her dad’s mysterious delivery service. While in town, Pia befriends librarians and a cute boy named Felix. She also starts to question what is really being delivered underneath the cartons of eggs and if her father is telling the truth about their life. While this is a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, readers don’t need to be familiar with the play to enjoy and understand this retelling.  

Winter White is an introspective, well-paced read. The book has a strong sense of place and believable characters. Serious topics like domestic abuse and drug trafficking are handled realistically, but sensitively. Teens will find Pia relatable. The depiction of the public library and the librarians that work there is a spot-on. If teen readers aren’t already using their library, this book is a wonderful introduction to the power and support they can find there.       

With short chapters and clocking in at just over 250 pages, this is an approachable, well-paced story for selective readers looking for a gritty, realistic tale. The modern retelling will also hold appeal for students reading Shakespeare in their literature classes, including as an assigned text to complement literature curriculum. Winter White is a great readalike for fans of Strong Like You by T.L. Simpson and The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen. 

–Megan Nigh

Follow YALSA’s The Hub on YouTube for exclusive author interviews!

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2027) Featured Review: Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill

  • Hekate: The Witch 
  • Author: Nikita Gill
  • Narrated by Nikita Gill
  • Hachette Audio
  • Publication Date: September 16, 2025
  • ISBN:9781668651780

This lyrical origin story of the Greek goddess of witchcraft explores themes of war and identity as young Hekate struggles to uncover her godly purpose while hidden away in the Underworld. Fleeing the violence of the newly crowned Olympian gods, Hekate grows up along the banks of the River Styx with few other gods nearby and little knowledge of her own past or future. Faced with many questions about who she is becoming and why she lost her mother after the war, Hekate must decide whether her quiet life with the goddess Styx is worth more than the answers hidden beyond the river’s banks.

Read by the author, Hekate: The Witch comes to life with the lyrical, poetic rhythm of Gill’s telling. She uses traditional Greek pronunciations, which ground the story in this ancient setting. Hekate’s pain, loneliness, frustration, and joy are easily discerned and very moving in the narration. The listener experiences Hekate growing from a young child torn away from her family by a terrible war into a young woman determined to discover her power despite all obstacles through Gill’s masterful prose and changing voice. 

Weaving a mysterious and powerful story, this audiobook takes the myth back to its ancient roots and asks its modern listeners to question why the men in power are always so afraid of women. While not written in verse, Gill’s narration clearly evokes the poetic cadence woven throughout the book, emulating the flow of a Greek epic that is at once timeless and increasingly relevant.
Fans of Natasha Bowen, Ibi Zoboi’s (S)Kin, and Rachel Smythe’s Lore Olympus will enjoy this dynamic retelling of Greek Underworld mythology.

-Lee Cooney (they/them)

Other Nominated Titles

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Follow YALSA’s The Hub on YouTube for exclusive author interviews!

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2026) Feature Review: Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero illustrated by Claudia Aguirre

  • Dan in Green Gables
  • by Rey Terciero
  • illustrated by Claudia Aguirre
  • Penguin Workshop
  • Publication Date: June 3, 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593385579

Fifteen-year-old Dan Stewart-Alvarez is abandoned in rural Tennessee with his grandparents by his free-spirited mother. His grandparents are strangers, and to make matters worse, his abrasive grandfather does not seem to approve of anything Dan does – or is. Dan’s queerness in a small Southern Baptist town causes problems for others in his orbit, but Dan is always unabashedly himself, and he slowly finds a way to build a safe, supportive community at Green Gables.

Labelled as a “modern reimagining” of Anne of Green Gables, this graphic novel highlights the familiar teen theme of feeling out of place and unwelcome in a new environment. Dan and Anne have similar upbeat attitudes and outlooks on life. Familiarity with the classic novel is not required in any way, however, as Dan is a fully formed character with his own motivations and struggles. The artwork is clear and expressive in this graphic novel, providing an accessible path to universal themes. The inviting cover, colorful layout, and expressive art will welcome reluctant readers.

Graphic novels with similar tones and themes include Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, We Could Be Magic by Marissa Meyer, Fitting Indian by Jyoti Chand, I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner, and The Deep Dark by Molly Ostertag. 

–Emily Williams

Check out our interview with Rex Ogle on Graphic novel reimagings!

Check out our post, I’m stealing the idea, but I wanna make it my own! here.

Check out our post, “If you’re going to run away, run away to a library.”: Interview with Rex Ogle here.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2026) Featured Review: Salvación by Sandra Proudman

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Lola de la Peña and her family relocate to Alta California to fulfill Mamá’s spiritual calling to heal the sick and injured with sal negra, a magical substance that cures any injury or malady.  By day, Lola is forced to play her part as the proper young Mexican girl that society expects her to be, but by night she dons the mask of Salvación, the masked vigilante hero protecting the people of Coloma. One night, however, a stranger arrives in town sharing a disturbing story of her own town’s destruction by sal roja and its wielder: Damien Hernández, who happens to arrive in Coloma the next day with promises to return Alta California to México. Determined to protect her town and all that she holds dear, Lola–under the guise of Salvación–races against the clock to determine what is truth and protect her people at all costs.

Full of action, lots of heart, and dangerous magic, Salvación retells the well-known folk tale of El Zorro and flips it on its head with a female protagonist and important themes.

Teens that enjoy strong female leads, folk-tale retellings, and historical fiction, with a side of romance will enjoy Salvación. Readers who have enjoyed Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes series and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder series for their folk and fairy tale retellings, or Erika Sánchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter for its story of a young Mexican girl finding herself despite the expectations of society.

– Amy Kilkenny

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: tinyurl.com/bfya2026

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2026) Featured Review: Salvación by Sandra Proudman

  • Salvación
  • by Sandra Proudman
  • Narrated by Victoria Villarreal
  • Macmillan Audio
  • Publication Date: May 20, 2025
  • ISBN: 9781250400475

In this gender-swapped fantasy retelling of the story of El Zorro, Lola de la Pena and her brother, Víctor, work together to protect the town of Coloma in Alta California as Salvación, the mysterious avenger who drives wrong-doers away. By day, Lola helps her mother heal the sick and injured using the magical sal negra, the black salt that her father and brother mine. When Salvación rescues a nearly-dead woman, they learn about the horror that is sal roja, the deadly opposite to sal negra, and Hernández, a man willing to destroy anyone in his quest to conquer the world. When Hernández arrives in Coloma with promises to rid Alta California of the white settlers and undo the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Lola and Víctor join forces with Alejandro, a young man who has lost faith in Hernández after seeing the pain he is willing to inflict. Together, the three set out to find sal roja before Hernández can amass more and become nearly unstoppable. The start of a romance between Salvación and Alejandro adds to the tension, as she hides her true identity from him until unmasked by Hernández. Victoria Villarreal’s voices add to the development of the characters, and she portrays characters of different ages and ethnicities while smoothly transitioning from English to Spanish.

The story of Zorro is getting a gender-swapped TV show soon, so fans might be drawn to this re-imagining. Readers who loved Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan for its depiction of Spanish-speaking Americans will also enjoy this book’s fluid blend of Spanish and English and the portrayal of Mexican culture in Alta California. Readers who enjoy alternate history fiction like Cake Eater by Allyson Dahlen or Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series will also be engaged by this book.

–-Lynda Salem Poling

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2025) Feature Review: Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney

  • Escaping Mr. Rochester
  • by L. L. McKinney
  • Harper Teen
  • Publication Date: January 16, 2024
  • ISBN: 9780062986269

Jane wants nothing more than to escape the orphanage where she grew up. She is delighted when she accepts a position as a governess for a wealthy manor nearby. Little does she know that the manor contains secrets, dangerous ones. 

This reimagining of Jane Eyre will keep readers engaged to the end. By asking the question, “But what if Mr. Rochester was a villain?” McKinney gives a new perspective on a favorite classic. Yet readers do not have to know Jane Eyre to understand the plot. McKinney has created a story full of intrigue and adventure that stands on its own.   

The physical book is small and less intimidating than the original Jane Eyre. This makes it feel accessible, and the fast-paced plot and compelling characters will keep the reader interested. Furthermore, it might entice young readers to read the classic it is based on to compare the stories. For the teen reader seeking a love story with a gothic twist and a strong dose of female empowerment, this is the perfect read. The characters in this book embody girl power, inspiring readers with their strength and resilience.


Readers who enjoyed Seraphina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty and the television series Wednesday or Riverdale will surely enjoy this book.

-Josie Snow

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2024) Featured Review: My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron

  • My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix
  • by Kalynn Bayron
  • Narrated by Clifford Samuel
  • Publisher: Macmillan | Macmillan Young Listeners
  • Publication Date: March 7, 2023
  • ISBN: 9781250877239

Part of the Remixed Classics series, this latest work from author Kalynn Bayron updates Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic gothic novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for a modern young adult audience. In Bayron’s version, narrator Gabriel Utterson is a young medical student rather than an attorney; however, conflict arises because he is also African American and queer and dealing with the racism and homophobia of late 19th-century London. After he and his best friend, Henry Jekyll, are expelled from the London Medical School amid rumors of their relationship, Henry begins growing increasingly distant from Gabriel about the same time as the mysterious Hyde shows up. Despite Gabriel’s jealousy of Hyde, who seems to live at Henry’s house, he begins to realize something is not quite right and becomes determined to discover what is going on with his friend.

Clifford Samuel does an extraordinary job narrating as his deep voice perfectly suits the dark mood and gothic atmosphere of this story that reveals that monsters aren’t always the ones you think they are, especially in a society where your worth is determined by the color of your skin and whom you choose to love. Fans of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and Self-Made Boys, as well as Bayron’s other works are likely to find appeal in this book.

-Jennifer Balke

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: January 31, 2023
Release Date: February 28, 2023
Release Date: September 13, 2022
Release Date: February 7, 2023

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

The Age of the Retelling

Aliens. Vampires. Ghosts. Dystopians. These are some huge themes that pop culture has gone through in the past decade. From YA novels, to movies, to television shows there is always a theme that prevails for a period of time. Our current theme? Retellings.

The current line up of new movies are either remakes and reboots of originals or books and comics turned into movies, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Revenant, and Deadpool leading the way. Current popular TV shows are either retellings or revivals of past shows, with the masses being particularly excited about Fuller House and X-Files.

Retellings abound in YA literature as well, not only in rewriting classics, such as Marta Acosta’s retelling of Jane Eyre entitled Dark Companion, but many retellings of fairy tales. What is it about retellings that catch our attention? Is it the themes that we know and love? Is it the comfort of the familiar, like we are coming home? I am sure the answer is different for everyone, but there is no doubt that retellings are taking the pop culture world by storm.

fairy tale retellings young adult literature

As with many themes, certain books quickly take the spotlight, while some others quietly gain attention. The same goes with retellings. Below are some books that all your friends may have been telling you about, books you haven’t heard of, and new books to keep an eye out for.

Continue reading The Age of the Retelling

Gothic, Horror, and Mysteries: YA Fiction for Fans of Edgar Allan Poe

It’s the time of year where readers start asking for creepy and the supernatural, and teens flock to stories of gothic horror and murder mysteries. There’s no shortage of young adult fiction in these genres and there’s even quite the list of Poe-inspired works. This is a list to satisfy those with an appetite for the macabre or mysterious!

young adult fiction for fans of edgar allan poe | YALSA's The Hub

Continue reading Gothic, Horror, and Mysteries: YA Fiction for Fans of Edgar Allan Poe