2017 Challenge Progress

[Margaret]

Lacey wrote: "Margaret, what did you think of Skeleton Man? I always consider reading that one for the challenge -- I have wanted to read something by Bruchac since I heard him speak at South Dakota's Festival o..."

I haven't read it! Must be somebody else's read. :)

[Melanti]

Skeleton Man was decent. It definitely reads like a middle grade book though - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

And it's also neat to have something directly incorporating folklore, which seems to be a bit harder to find for Native American folklore than it is for European fairy tales.

My one complaint was it was really hard to remember the main character was a girl, for some reason. Every time someone referred to her as a niece or some other gendered word, there was a half second "huh?? Oh right!" I have no idea why that was so hard to remember, but it was. The narrative voice seemed more boyish than girlish to me, I guess.

[Melanti]

Just finished Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale. A pretty basic overview, but I'll be pulling a lot of recs for books out of both the text and the bibliography.


That finishes off my challenge!


1. One sci-fi retelling of folklore, fairy tale, myth, or legend.
Brown Girl in the Ring - 9/21

2. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by the Djinn.
The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories - 2/28

3. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by a creature from fairy tales/folklore/mythology/legends; e.g., dragons, unicorns, trolls, mermaids, etc.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - 9/12

4. One graphic novel with fairy tale/folklore/mythological references.
Snow White: A Graphic Novel - 4/9

5. One poetry or short story collection inspired by fairy tales, folklore, and/or mythology or one collection of original tales or myths.
One Thousand and One Nights - 2/13

6. One book from any of the Endicott Studio lists:
Love in the Time of Cholera - 12/16

7. An original tale, short story collection or novel based on the folklore/mythology of a holiday of your choice.
Midnight Robber - 2/27

8. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by indigenous American ( Native American or First Nations) folklore or mythology.
Skeleton Man - 12/17

9. One collection of original tales, short stories or novel based on the folklore or mythology of a non-European country or culture of your choice
The Girl with Ghost Eyes - 3/20

10. One non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology
Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale - 12/23

11. 12. Two additional original tales, short story collections or novels that fit into one of the other categories.
The Little Red Wolf - 11/30
Through the Woods - 3/09

[Lacey]

So I am going to consider my challenge complete even though I had to rejigger it a little at the last minute because I only made it halfway through one of the books I was planning to count before the year ended. Gosh, babies are time-consuming. :p

Here's what I ended up with:

1. One sci-fi retelling of folklore, fairy tale, myth, or legend.
Winter by Marissa Meyer. I like this series but didn't feel like this was a stellar conclusion.

2. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by the Djinn.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud. Found this one disappointing.

3. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by a creature from fairy tales/folklore/mythology/legends; e.g., dragons, unicorns, trolls, mermaids, etc.
Unicorn Highway by David Lee Jones. Awful.

4. One graphic novel with fairy tale/folklore/mythological references.
Far Out Fairy Tales (average)
Snow White: A Graphic Novel (jumped on the bandwagon because I needed something short to finish the challenge on time. Not all that impressed, although it was better than Far Out Fairy Tales.)

5. One poetry or short story collection inspired by fairy tales, folklore, and/or mythology or one collection of original tales or myths.
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue. Liked this one.

6. One book from any of the Endicott Studio lists:
http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/jom...
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. Probably my favorite that I read for the challenge.

7. An original tale, short story collection or novel based on the folklore/mythology of a holiday of your choice.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause by L. Frank Baum. Liked it.

8. One original tale, short story collection or novel with or inspired by indigenous American ( Native American or First Nations) folklore or mythology.
Spider Woman's Web by Susan Hazen-Hammond. I had never read a collection of Native American myths before. It was interesting to see a lot of common motifs with the "western" fairy tales I am more familiar with. There is one story that reminded me of "Hansel and Gretel" and another that reminded me of "Donkeyskin/All Fur.s"

9. One collection of original tales, short stories or novel based on the folklore or mythology of a non-European country or culture of your choice
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury. Again, disappointing. If anyone knows of a good Aladdin retelling, please let me know.

10. One non-fiction book about folk or fairy tales or mythology
Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola-Estes. This one was very slow going for me, but I'm glad I finally read it. It's been on my shelf forever.

11. 12. Two additional original tales, short story collections or novels that fit into one of the other categories.
I read an extra graphic novel, and am in the middle of Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, which I was going to count for #3. But I saw other folks counting Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls for #3, which I also read this year, so I'm going to copy them and substitute that book so I can mark the challenge complete even without Seraphina.

Onto 2018!