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Five Faves: Middle Grade Fractured Fairy Tales

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Did you love reading Ella Enchanted? Are you obsessed with Peter and the Starcatchers? Sometimes it's fun to read a twist on a classic tale. Whether it's someone from today jumping into a familiar tale, or characters from fairy tales making different choices then the ones you'd expect, fractured fairy tales are a delight! So here are some middle grade fractured fairy tales to try out!

Princess Protection Program
By Alex London
New York: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024. Fiction. 212 pages.

When she's woken by a kiss from a prince she's never met and definitely doesn't want to spend forever with, Rosamund (Sleeping Beauty) flees her tale. When Rosamund arrives at Orphans' Home Educational Academy, or HEA, with no idea how she got there, the headmistress invites her to stay with the other wayward fairy tale characters who have also escaped their endings. But as they venture out into today's modern world, it appears that their academy isn't exactly as it appears. Will they stay at HEA or travel back to finish their own stories?

Ravenous Things
By Derrick Chow
Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2022. Fiction. 325 pages.

In this modern retelling of the Pied Piper, twelve-year-old Reggie feels alone. His father passed away two years before, and his paranoid mother is increasingly unwilling to leave the house. So when a strange man tells Reggie that he can give him his heart's desire, he jumps at the chance. He, and a gaggle of other children, take a subway ride that promises to reunite them with their loved ones. When everything is not as it appears, the children must fight together to escape the clutches of the piper or be trapped in the tunnels forever. This book is a great choice for spooky season.

Written by Tae Keller
Illustrated by Geraldine Rodriguez
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2022. Fiction.228 pages.

Mihi is obsessed with fairy tales and wants nothing more than to be a princess. After a game of Snow White goes awry and Mihi is sent into the library for lunch, she (along with Reese and Savannah who are also in the library for lunch) find a portal through a fridge to a fairy tale world. The Rainbow World is full of characters from all of Mihi's favorite stories and nursery rhymes. When Mihi trains to become the princess she thinks she was always meant to be, she realizes that being a princess and the Rainbow World may not be all that it appeared at first glance. For anyone who's always wanted to be a princess, this one's a keeper!

By Alyssa Moon
Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2021. Fiction. 313 pages.

Delphine, a mouse, works as a dressmaker inside Cinderella's chateau. After she is attacked by rats (who are under a truce with the mice) who try to steel her sewing needle, Delphine finds herself heaved into an adventure. Details from Cinderella are woven through the tale as readers become familiar with the world of the mice. For fans of Redwall, this book is a great choice.

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
New York: Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021. Fiction. 307 pages.

In this twist on Peter Pan, stepsisters Lily and Wendy are invited to travel to Neverland. Wendy, along with the girls' younger brother Michael, decide to go and are whisked away by Peter and his fairy, Belle. When Lily realizes that all is not as it appears in Neverland, she has to follow after her siblings or risk losing them forever.


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