A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

I have no hesitation on this one.  I love Gail Carson Levine's work, and A Tale of Two Castles is no exception.  Elodie heads to the city of Two Castles, where her parents believe she will apprentice herself to a weaver.  Elodie, however, has other plans: she wants to become a mansioner (actor).  Unfortunately, it's not until she's on her way that she learns that there are no more free apprenticeships, and the little bit of money she has is stolen by a cat shortly after her arrival.

Luckily for Elodie, she soon crosses paths with -- and then impresses -- Two Castle's resident dragon Meenore.  Soon the two of them are entangled in politics and plotting, and trying to protect the shape-shifting Ogre, Count Jonty Om.

Cats and ogres -- there's only one fairy tale that springs to my mind, and yes, this is Levine's retelling of Puss in Boots.  Although she follows the original tale in a way that's sketchy at best, she brings in plenty of the elements of it, and explores some of the trickier questions as well.  As she says on her website, "I'm utterly won over that a cat threatens a bunch of peasants with cutting them up as herbs for the soup and they're scared."

If you liked Ella Enchanted or Levine's other work, you'll like A Tale of Two Castles.  And if you haven't read any of her work, this is a fun one to start with.  She's definitely writing on the lighter side of fairy tales, and the book is probably aimed at middle grade readers, so the writing isn't overly complex.  It's a quick and enjoyable read.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Puss in Boots

I... I... I have a confession to make.

I couldn't sit through this one.

I tried. But. The man-in-a-cat-suit as a special effect just doesn't hold up. Perhaps it's my age, or perhaps just that I'm spoiled by the proliferation of advanced special effects, but it completely took me out of the episode.

Which I suppose is a pity because as far as I did get, the writing was amusing and, although Faerie Tale Theatre didn't deviate much from the original story, the dialog and scripting was clever. I say they didn't deviate much; I suppose they may have, in the end, but I couldn't get that far.

I would only recommend this one to dedicated fans. You can watch it for free on hulu.

Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Now here is a retelling that I can appreciate. You might guess from the cover what this story ties into... or you might not. And the retelling itself is much more subtle than most of the ones I cover here (which I certainly enjoy). So here we have Puss in Boots.

What I didn't realize when I started this is that it ties to Murdock's other book, Princess Ben, which I still haven't read. In this book, Princess Ben is the dowager queen, guiding her granddaughters as best she can, so the only spoiler for the previous book is: yes, she lives through it. And I did not have any trouble following this story or jumping into the world even though I missed the first book. It did make me want to go back and read the first book, so I'll be looking to get my hands on that one soon.

The story is told almost entirely through letters, diary entries, and a play written by "anonymous." (By the end of the story I think you'll have a good guess as to who the anonymous writer is.) There is both a clever cat and a man who is remarkably proud of both his boots and his wits. And there is something of an Ogre(ss) as well, although not in the shape you would expect.

I loved the way this was adapted. It was unexpected, yet as the pieces fell into place, it was clear to see that the elements of Puss in Boots were all present. I won't say too much about who did what and how it was reflective, but I will say that I loved it and I recommend this one for fans of Puss in Boots, more creative adaptations, or unique YA fiction.

Cat's Tale by Bettie Sharpe

Okay. So. I have a confession. My husband recently bought me a Kindle, and I've been going a little crazy, checking the amazon.com daily deals for ebooks, and browsing through amazon.com for cheap books. However, I had heard of this one, Cat's Tale by Bettie Sharpe, some time before I got my Kindle, and when I remembered it I went back to see how much it cost. At $3.03 it was irresistible, especially as there aren't that many Puss in Boots retellings out there.

This is the story of Lady Catriona, a selfish woman who becomes the king's concert. But when he dies and the line to succession is left in question, Cat finds herself caught trying to make alliances with both the princess and the king's magician. When the magician learns of her deceit, he turns her into a cat and tries to drown her in the miller's pond....

And naturally she hooks up with the miller's youngest son, and the pieces of the familiar story fall into place.

I'm not a big reader of romance novels, so I don't know how this compares in terms of that. There are a few sex scenes and they seemed enjoyable enough. As far as the fairy tale goes, I thought it was a creatively done rewrite, giving the characters some depth as well as putting some twists on the old story, while still sticking to the bones of it.

It's a quick read, really a novella more than a novel. Unfortunately it's only available in digital format, but you can get it through amazon or audible and of course there is a kindle app for computers, so that's an option too.

Midnight Magic by Amy Gordon

One of the few other stories I've found up with that makes use of the Puss in Boots without just being a retelling of the story is Amy Gordon's Midnight Magic.

I found the book to be pretty simplistic, aiming for a gradeschool age range. It was a cute story and I'm sure kids would like it, especially if they like Puss in Boots. I did like the way they imagined the ogre's point of view and what had he ever done to deserve that--certainly in early versions of the story it's simply that he's an ogre and he's claiming a lord's title, although in later versions they make him something of a terrorist. My sympathies still fall firmly on the side of Puss, but it made for an interesting thought exercise as well as a cute story.

ttp://www.amyagordon.com/books.html

The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

I just finished reading The Godmother, by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

I was pretty impressed by how well the fairy tales fit into modern Seattle, and I enjoyed the themes the main character, Rose, pulled out of the book of fairy tales. I won't go into details, but I will say that Cinderella, Snow White, Hanzel and Gretel, Bluebeard, and Puss in Boots all make appearances of various kinds.

I felt like the book wrapped up a little too quickly, something like, "My, this is quite a word count I have! Time to end things!" However, upon consideration, I felt that kind of fit with the rush the characters themselves felt they were in, and to be fair, I did read the second half of the book in one big chunk, after taking several... weeks? to get through the first part. (I'm one of those people who is always reading about 20 books at once.)

In any case, I feel that if you enjoy fairy tales, you'd like this book.

Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

This continues the tale of Julie, 11-year-old daughter of Rapunzel, and her "brother," Puss in Boots. Having undone the wish that brought the Wild (a fairy tale forest that forces people to act out stories again and again) into power, Julie thinks that things will go back to normal, until one of the Three Blind Mice accidentally (he's blind, after all) runs into the Wild where it's stored under her bed. But instead of growing, the Wild takes the opportunity to trade -- as the mouse enters, Rapunzel's Prince, Julie's father, is set free, and the consequences take both Julie and Rapunzel by surprise.

Tons of fairy tale characters and events, a race across the country, and a surprising foe keep this story zipping along. I admit I did get a little exasperated with the boneheadedness of one of the characters, but that part of the story doesn't last too long and I enjoyed the rest of the book.

This is aimed at younger kids, probably in the grade school range, but I also recommend the duology (start with the first one!) if you love creative mashups of fairy tales.

More information about Sarah Beth Durst's writing and fairy tale adaptations at her website: http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

I picked Into the Wild up after hearing about Sarah Beth Durst's newer book, Ice.

Into the Wild is aimed at grade-schoolers, and the language reads like it. I tend to like my fairy tale remixes to be a little more mature, but taking this for what it's intended as, it's very well done. At first I thought the stories/type characters would stick pretty closely to their origins, but Durst managed some nice twists that left me feeling like she wasn't just rehashing the usual material.

The story is about 12-year-old Julie and her mother, Rapunzel, as well as several other friends who escaped "the Wild" and now live in the real world (such as the flighty "Cindy," selfish "Goldy" and Julie's "brother" Puss in Boots). Until someone breaks into the well at the Wishing Well Motel and makes a wish -- which sets the Wild free to grow and shape their lives again.

In the end I thought it was a nice blend of several stories, with some new ideas. I enjoyed the characters and I think Durst has a nice little package of a story here. Nothing too in depth, but perfect if you're just looking for a light read.

There is a sequel, Out of the Wild, which I haven't checked out yet (but I will). This might be slightly misleading, because the story isn't left hanging with characters in dire straights; however, the possibilities for the sequel are fairly clear.