Margo Kelly on her eponymous site praises Jane Yolen’s HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE.

HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE, by Jane Yolen, is a collection of short stories and poems based on familiar fairy tales–but altered in fun, creepy, and imaginative ways. Yolen explains, “A fracture is a break … [it] can hurt like a sprain or reveal like a geode being split apart to show the jewels within.”

Yolen takes well-known fairy tales and splits them apart, sometimes leaving them still quite familiar and other times shining a light from an unfamiliar angle to reveal new truths and possibilities.

This collection is a perfect choice to read when you have only a few minutes at a time to devote to the book. Read it while you’re waiting at the doctor’s office, or waiting in line to pick up your kids, or waiting anywhere!

Photo: Jason Stemple

Educational Book and Media Association (EBMA) names Jane Yolen winner Of the 40th Annual Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award.

In 1975, Jeremiah Ludington, owner of Ludington News Company in Detroit, Michigan, founded the Educational Paperback Association, now known as the Educational Book and Media Association. To honor his dedication and commitment to the educational paperback market, the EPA in 1979 established the Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award.  

The Ludington award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the educational paperback business, and is the EBMA version of a “Lifetime Achievement Award.”  Recipients receive a framed certificate and EBMA presents a $2,500 check to the charity of their choice.  Past winners of the award have included illustrators, authors, educators, and librarians such as John Scieszka, Lois Lowry, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume

AVALINAH’S BOOKS enjoys Finding Baba Yaga.

I absolutely adored Finding Baba Yaga. It surprised me! Because I have never read a novel in verse before, and let me tell you, I am not a fan of poetry. It’s very hard to make me read poetry!

Despite that, I didn’t find this book to be pretentious or hard to understand. The verse didn’t feel complicated, instead, it made it a quick read that was easy to connect to. It’s about struggling with being understood and too controlled by your family – religious parents and being a woman in society in general. Not having any say in your life, and making a stand about it. As well as actually finding your own self, as well as your new place, your new family. It’s also about disappointment, love and being understood. It was a beautiful story, laced with modernized Russian mythology that was really a delight to read about. Very recommended!

For more info on HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story