YA Classic Retellings

YA adaptations or stories inspired from classic tales including fairy tales, fables, and classical literature. Not a complete or exhaustive list. *The Young Adult Collection is made up of books for a wide age range (12-18 years old) and includes a variety of different topics and interests. Not all titles will be appropriate for all readers.*

Showing 21 - 40 of 81  There are a total of 196 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Dark and deepest red"
Star rating for Dark and deepest red
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
"Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves. Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Olivas feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fevers history...
Book cover for "The dark descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein"
Star rating for The dark descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
The events of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein unfold from the perspective of Elizabeth Lavenza, who is adopted as a child by the Frankensteins as a companion for their volatile son Victor.
Book cover for "Daughter of Sparta"
Star rating for Daughter of Sparta
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Guided by the handsome Apollo, Daphne journeys across ancient Greece to recover nine mysterious items stolen from Mount Olympus before the gods lose their powers and throw the mortal world into chaos in this reinterpretation of the Greek myth.
Book cover for "Dorothy Must Die"
Star rating for Dorothy Must Die
Series:
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:

The New York Times bestselling first book in a dark new series that reimagines the Oz saga, from debut author Danielle Paige.

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds.

...
Book cover for "Echo north"
Star rating for Echo north
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
After her father disappears, Echo meets a wolf who promises to make sure her father is returned home safely if Echo agrees to live with the wolf in his enchanted house for one year.
Book cover for "Ella enchanted"
Star rating for Ella enchanted
Series:
Ella enchanted volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

27. Eon

Book cover for "Eon"
Star rating for Eon
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Read Alison Goodman's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.

Eon—the award-winning crossover fantasy that soars!

Sixteen-year-old Eon has a dream, and a mission. For years, he's been studying sword-work and magic, toward one end. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye-an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually

...

28. Gilded

Book cover for "Gilded"
Star rating for Gilded
Series:
Gilded duology volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
"Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue. Or so everyone believes. When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda...
Book cover for "Girl, serpent, thorn"
Star rating for Girl, serpent, thorn
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
Soraya, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch, has lived eighteen years in the shadows but as her twin brother's wedding approaches, she faces choices with unimaginable consequences.
Book cover for "The girl who fell beneath the sea"
Star rating for The girl who fell beneath the sea
Author:
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Description:
In this retelling of the Korean legend The tale of Shim Cheong, sixteen-year-old Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where, assisted by a motley crew of demons, gods, and lesser spirits, she sets out to awaken the sleeping Sea God and save her homeland and family from deadly storms.
Book cover for "Girls made of snow and glass"
Star rating for Girls made of snow and glass
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
This feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale traces the relationship of two young women who are doomed to be rivals. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.
Book cover for "The Goddess Test"
Star rating for The Goddess Test
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:


It's always been just Kate and her mom--and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate...
Book cover for "The goose girl"
Star rating for The goose girl
Series:
Books of Bayern volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
On her way to marry a prince she's never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.
Book cover for "The Guinevere deception"
Star rating for The Guinevere deception
Average Rating:
3.2 stars
Description:
Sent by a banished Merlin to protect King Arthur, a sixteen-year-old impersonating the deceased Guinevere struggles to fit in at Camelot where the magic she practices is banished.
Book cover for "Heartless"
Star rating for Heartless
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In this prequel to Alice in Wonderland, Cath would rather open a bakery and marry for love than accept a proposal from the King of Hearts, especially after meeting the handsome and mysterious court jester.
Book cover for "House of salt and sorrows"
Star rating for House of salt and sorrows
Series:
Average Rating:
3.6 stars
Description:
On a remote island estate, Annaleigh Thaumas, the sixth-born of twelve sisters, enlists the aid of an alluring stranger to unravel the family curse before it claims her life.

37. Hunted

Book cover for "Hunted"
Star rating for Hunted
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
Follows the experiences of an aristocrat's daughter, Yeva, who tracks a mysterious woodland creature her father has become obsessed with and that stands at the center of his failing sanity.
Book cover for "Into the bloodred woods"
Star rating for Into the bloodred woods
Description:
On his deathbed King Tyran divides his land between his twin children, first-born Ursula, a werebear, and Albrecht; but Albrecht wants it all and makes war on his sister, killing her people and the werebeasts, becoming a tyrant to his own kingdom--but their family history is far more complicated and mysterious than he knows, and Ursula has powerful allies in the living forest that surrounds their lands, including her aunt Esme who has been in hiding...
Book cover for "Kingdom of the Wicked"
Star rating for Kingdom of the Wicked
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
"Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden. Then Emilia...
Book cover for "Labyrinth lost"
Star rating for Labyrinth lost
Series:
Brooklyn brujas volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she's hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. When a curse she performs to rid herself of magic backfires and her family vanishes, she must travel to Los Lagos, a land in-between as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland, to get her family back.