Here are some retellings that feature queer characters. These may be retellings of classic books or fairy tales or mythology. The important thing is that they are queer retellings or reimaginings of some of the stories that we know and love.
The Princess and the Fangirl
Author: Ashley Poston
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Summary: The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Summary: The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.
The Other Merlin
Author: Robyn Schneider
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Summary: Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot. Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible misunderstanding, and nothing is going according to plan. Then Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone (in his defense, he was drunk and mostly kidding), and now everyone’s convinced he’s some prophesied hero.
Emry Merlin is stuck in her small town. Her father, the legendary court wizard, disappeared years ago, and Emry’s been peddling theater tricks to make ends meet. When a royal messenger arrives summoning her far less talented twin brother to serve as Prince Arthur's right-hand wizard, Emry is understandably upset. But after Emmett becomes indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry disguises herself as her brother and travels to the royal court to impersonate him until they can switch.
Studying magic at the castle is everything Emry hoped for. But life in King Uther’s court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers. What’s a teen wizard masquerading as her twin brother to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, offend Princess Guinevere, and make herself indispensable to the future of Camelot?
When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she'll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known.
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Summary: Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot. Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible misunderstanding, and nothing is going according to plan. Then Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone (in his defense, he was drunk and mostly kidding), and now everyone’s convinced he’s some prophesied hero.
Emry Merlin is stuck in her small town. Her father, the legendary court wizard, disappeared years ago, and Emry’s been peddling theater tricks to make ends meet. When a royal messenger arrives summoning her far less talented twin brother to serve as Prince Arthur's right-hand wizard, Emry is understandably upset. But after Emmett becomes indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry disguises herself as her brother and travels to the royal court to impersonate him until they can switch.
Studying magic at the castle is everything Emry hoped for. But life in King Uther’s court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers. What’s a teen wizard masquerading as her twin brother to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, offend Princess Guinevere, and make herself indispensable to the future of Camelot?
When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she'll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known.
Dithered Hearts
Author: Chace Verity
Publication Date: July 8, 2019
Summary: A gender-confused farmer desperate to reclaim her farm and escape her stepparents' abuse. A closeted prince more interested in helping his people than finding a bride. A fairy godfather with a ton of secrets and no powers. In this diverse fairy tale, everyone is searching for a happy ending.The masquerade ball to find Prince Longhollow's future bride might be Cynthia Lynah's best chance at getting her family farm back. If she can marry him, she'll have all the money and power she needs. Her newly discovered fairy godfather is ready to help her, but his magic can't do anything to stop her heart from falling for two women she shouldn't be attracted to--her stepsisters. In the midst of her flirtations, she causes her fairy godfather to lose his magic and stirs trouble for the prince desperate to save his nation from a famine.Everyone gets a chance to be the hero of their story, but happy endings seem impossible when they need more than magic to make them happen.
Publication Date: July 8, 2019
Summary: A gender-confused farmer desperate to reclaim her farm and escape her stepparents' abuse. A closeted prince more interested in helping his people than finding a bride. A fairy godfather with a ton of secrets and no powers. In this diverse fairy tale, everyone is searching for a happy ending.The masquerade ball to find Prince Longhollow's future bride might be Cynthia Lynah's best chance at getting her family farm back. If she can marry him, she'll have all the money and power she needs. Her newly discovered fairy godfather is ready to help her, but his magic can't do anything to stop her heart from falling for two women she shouldn't be attracted to--her stepsisters. In the midst of her flirtations, she causes her fairy godfather to lose his magic and stirs trouble for the prince desperate to save his nation from a famine.Everyone gets a chance to be the hero of their story, but happy endings seem impossible when they need more than magic to make them happen.
Call Forth a Fox
Author: Markelle Grabo
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
Summary: The western wood is where Ro’s father built their garden, taught her to forage, and told her tales of the faeries who live there—how to summon them, how to protect herself, and warnings of what they are capable of. Now, her father is gone, the garden has withered, and their family is struggling. Her mother and sister want to move into town, but Ro doesn't want to give up the memories of her father and his stories—or the charming village girl who shares Ro's love of the trees. And the forest isn’t ready to let her go either.
One winter night, on her way home from foraging, Ro encounters a fox being attacked by a bear. She fights the bear to save the fox’s life, only to see the bear turn into a boy after her sister shoots him with an arrow. When the boy wakes, he has no memory of who he is—all he knows is Ro’s name and that he has to kill the fox.
Ro never believed in the faeries from her father’s stories, but she can’t deny the magic surrounding her and that both the boy and the fox are victims of a faerie curse. She’ll have to remember everything her father taught her in order to extract herself from this deadly game and keep her precious fox out of harm’s way.
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
Summary: The western wood is where Ro’s father built their garden, taught her to forage, and told her tales of the faeries who live there—how to summon them, how to protect herself, and warnings of what they are capable of. Now, her father is gone, the garden has withered, and their family is struggling. Her mother and sister want to move into town, but Ro doesn't want to give up the memories of her father and his stories—or the charming village girl who shares Ro's love of the trees. And the forest isn’t ready to let her go either.
One winter night, on her way home from foraging, Ro encounters a fox being attacked by a bear. She fights the bear to save the fox’s life, only to see the bear turn into a boy after her sister shoots him with an arrow. When the boy wakes, he has no memory of who he is—all he knows is Ro’s name and that he has to kill the fox.
Ro never believed in the faeries from her father’s stories, but she can’t deny the magic surrounding her and that both the boy and the fox are victims of a faerie curse. She’ll have to remember everything her father taught her in order to extract herself from this deadly game and keep her precious fox out of harm’s way.
Someone Else's Shoes
Author: Aldrea Alien
Publication Date: November 25, 2021
Summary: Stepping out in borrowed shoes has never been so dangerous.
Stripped of her inheritance as a child by a greedy stepmother, Alla’s future hovers between drudgery and slavery. Having spent years toiling in the mansion that was once her happy home, tending to her stepmother’s every whim, she has long since put aside any thoughts of a better future.
When a chance encounter in the marketplace leaves her with an invitation to the upcoming ball, her only opportunity to play out an old dream of seeing inside the palace walls is by being someone she’s not. A farce that could see her executed or sold.
But will she be able to maintain the illusion once she meets Princess Viktoriya?
Publication Date: November 25, 2021
Summary: Stepping out in borrowed shoes has never been so dangerous.
Stripped of her inheritance as a child by a greedy stepmother, Alla’s future hovers between drudgery and slavery. Having spent years toiling in the mansion that was once her happy home, tending to her stepmother’s every whim, she has long since put aside any thoughts of a better future.
When a chance encounter in the marketplace leaves her with an invitation to the upcoming ball, her only opportunity to play out an old dream of seeing inside the palace walls is by being someone she’s not. A farce that could see her executed or sold.
But will she be able to maintain the illusion once she meets Princess Viktoriya?
Unburied Fables
Author: Various Authors
Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Summary: This collection enlisted talent around the world. From students to seasoned professionals, these writers came together to raise awareness and reinvent classic stories. While they showcase a wide variety of origins, styles, and endings, all the tales in this anthology have one classic element in common: a happily ever after.
Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Summary: This collection enlisted talent around the world. From students to seasoned professionals, these writers came together to raise awareness and reinvent classic stories. While they showcase a wide variety of origins, styles, and endings, all the tales in this anthology have one classic element in common: a happily ever after.
Robin and Her Misfits
Author: Kelly Ann Jacobson
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Summary: A roving female gang of fun-loving rebel bikers, street racers, and bandits led by Robin agree to give back to queer girls in need of help in this stunning modern reimagining of the Robin Hood legend.
Robin and her four Misfits—Little John, White Rabbit, Daisy Chain, and Skillet—have run away from their families in order to live off the grid on their own terms. For a while, they’re hidden, safe, and happy as they commit petty crimes that provide enough to get by. All that matters is keeping their small clan alive. Then, one mission proposed by an unfriendly associate from their past reminds them of their former lives and motivates the group to a new purpose. The five Misfits develop into a league of strong individuals united by a fresh goal: do whatever it takes to help queer girls rise above oppressive laws and attitudes.
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Summary: A roving female gang of fun-loving rebel bikers, street racers, and bandits led by Robin agree to give back to queer girls in need of help in this stunning modern reimagining of the Robin Hood legend.
Robin and her four Misfits—Little John, White Rabbit, Daisy Chain, and Skillet—have run away from their families in order to live off the grid on their own terms. For a while, they’re hidden, safe, and happy as they commit petty crimes that provide enough to get by. All that matters is keeping their small clan alive. Then, one mission proposed by an unfriendly associate from their past reminds them of their former lives and motivates the group to a new purpose. The five Misfits develop into a league of strong individuals united by a fresh goal: do whatever it takes to help queer girls rise above oppressive laws and attitudes.
Asexual Fairy Tales
Author: Elizabeth Hopkinson
Publication Date: September 27, 2019
Summary: Once upon a time, our ancestors were much more honest and open about the spectrum of human sexuality. Among the fairy tales and myths they told were stories of androgynes, neither male nor female; of women and men who resist sex and marriage for other kinds of love; of chaste romances, miraculous childbirth and bodily transformations. These are the asexual fairy tales you will find in this book.
These tales come from many places: from Grimms’ Fairy Tales to The Thousand and One Nights, from Greek mythology and Arthurian legend to the silent films of the 1920s and from Scandinavia to Japan. Retold, reimagined, and sometimes reinvented as new stories for the 21st century, these stories will change the way you think about fairy tales, and bring asexuality out of the closet.
Publication Date: September 27, 2019
Summary: Once upon a time, our ancestors were much more honest and open about the spectrum of human sexuality. Among the fairy tales and myths they told were stories of androgynes, neither male nor female; of women and men who resist sex and marriage for other kinds of love; of chaste romances, miraculous childbirth and bodily transformations. These are the asexual fairy tales you will find in this book.
These tales come from many places: from Grimms’ Fairy Tales to The Thousand and One Nights, from Greek mythology and Arthurian legend to the silent films of the 1920s and from Scandinavia to Japan. Retold, reimagined, and sometimes reinvented as new stories for the 21st century, these stories will change the way you think about fairy tales, and bring asexuality out of the closet.
Asexual Myths & Tales
Author: Elizabeth Hopkinson
Publication Date: October 28, 2020
Summary: Once upon a time, our ancestors told tales of asexuality, symbolic stories that hint at other identities: a princess who grows a beard to escape marriage, a knight who forsakes his wife's bed to become a werewolf, a goddess with detachable parts, a planet where everyone is asexual.
Drawn from many times and places, retold and reimagined for the 21st century, Elizabeth Hopkinson's second book of myths and tales brings asexuality out of the closet and gives it the history it has been denied.
Publication Date: October 28, 2020
Summary: Once upon a time, our ancestors told tales of asexuality, symbolic stories that hint at other identities: a princess who grows a beard to escape marriage, a knight who forsakes his wife's bed to become a werewolf, a goddess with detachable parts, a planet where everyone is asexual.
Drawn from many times and places, retold and reimagined for the 21st century, Elizabeth Hopkinson's second book of myths and tales brings asexuality out of the closet and gives it the history it has been denied.
Once Upon a Dyke
Author: Various Authors
Publication Date: June 1, 2004
Summary: In this first installment of a planned annual series of New Exploits of... novellas, authors put a new twist on the classic fairy tales Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast.
Fish Out of Water (Kallmaker); Nobody believed the curse that the evil warlock put on Ariel until it came true. On her twenty-first birthday she awoke in a strange bed, next to a mortal woman, in a land that bore no resemblance to her own. She must not speak for a year, no matter the need, or she will never be able to go home again. And home has much to offer: her crown, her magic, and the endless pleasures of the Sidhe Court. The memories of the glorious, wonderfully irresponsible, luxurious days and nights keep her silent... until the love, and lovemaking, of that very mortal woman, leaves her yearning to say just one word: Yes.
A Butch in Fairytale Land (Szymanski); Need help? Cody is there. Friends call her misguided. Ex-friends say stalker. Chided on every side for acting before she thinks, Cody is delighted to awaken in a fairy tale world where damsel after damsel not only needs help, but Cody is the only butch around to save the day.
(Note: For some reason the summary of this book is cut short and I can't find a full one that includes descriptions of all the stories.)
Publication Date: June 1, 2004
Summary: In this first installment of a planned annual series of New Exploits of... novellas, authors put a new twist on the classic fairy tales Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast.
Fish Out of Water (Kallmaker); Nobody believed the curse that the evil warlock put on Ariel until it came true. On her twenty-first birthday she awoke in a strange bed, next to a mortal woman, in a land that bore no resemblance to her own. She must not speak for a year, no matter the need, or she will never be able to go home again. And home has much to offer: her crown, her magic, and the endless pleasures of the Sidhe Court. The memories of the glorious, wonderfully irresponsible, luxurious days and nights keep her silent... until the love, and lovemaking, of that very mortal woman, leaves her yearning to say just one word: Yes.
A Butch in Fairytale Land (Szymanski); Need help? Cody is there. Friends call her misguided. Ex-friends say stalker. Chided on every side for acting before she thinks, Cody is delighted to awaken in a fairy tale world where damsel after damsel not only needs help, but Cody is the only butch around to save the day.
(Note: For some reason the summary of this book is cut short and I can't find a full one that includes descriptions of all the stories.)
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