Four Short Story Collections About Strong Women and Girls Around the World

My apologies for the long silence! This is a list of recommendations I wanted to post during Women's History Month, but couldn't get a hold of all the titles in time. That's okay though since we celebrate women and girls all the time on Ink & Pen! So, here are four collections of short stories about strong women and girls who think--and do--for themselves. Many of these tales have been buried or ignored, but we're glad to have them available to us now. Enjoy!

Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls
collected and told by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Susan Guevara

This collection of thirteen tales from Greece, Niger, Germany, Argentina, China, the White River Sioux, the Ozark Mountains, Scotland, Romania, Poland, Japan, France, and England, was by far my favorite. Yolen is a gifted storyteller and chose an array of engrossing tales that left me wishing there were a second collection!

The Serpent Slayer: and Other Stories of Strong Women
written by Katrin Tchana, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

This collection includes 18 stories of strong girls and women from Asia, the Americas, India, the Jewish tradition, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The tales in this collection are fascinating and the girls in them are all strong in unique ways. The illustrations for this treasury are remarkable and the stories fascinating.

Ten Cinderella Tales from Around the World

It's officially summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and we'd like to take this season to focus on folk and fairy tales (and perhaps myths and legends, too) here on Ink & Pen. So, to start things off here are ten Cinderella tales from around the world. Considering that it is widely accepted that the Cinderella tale was first recorded in China, it's surprising that multicultural versions of the story are not more popular, but thankfully there are a multitude of picture book versions from a truly diverse array of countries and cultures.

When I was a teacher, I spent an entire month exploring Cinderella tales with my students and we still didn't get through every culture's version. I found my students open to and interested in Cinderella stories from every culture. In fact, when I began reading them a Perrault version (what would be the "standard" for those of us in mainstream Western culture--except perhaps in Germany) they asked me what country the story was from, not viewing it as more original, authentic, or authoritative than any other version.

Of course, the Cinderella tale can be problematic when it comes to gender, body image, etc. I would strongly recommend that you engage any children you may be reading with in a discussion about standards of beauty as well as any other issues you may see with the tale. It's important for children to know that physical attributes are not an indicator of inner worth, and while some children will come to this conclusion on their own, it is helpful to have a trusted adult either introduce or reaffirm this notion.

I'm not including synopses for these books for though they differ widely in details, they are all versions of the same tale. Here are my top ten (in no particular order):

1. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale


2. The Korean Cinderella


3. The Rough-Face Girl

Weekly Roundup: May 12 - May 18, 2013

• Celebrate YA Books That Feature Haitian Culture at The Hub

• 10 YA Books About Southeast Asian Americans at Diversity in YA

Older but still good:

• Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Characters in YA Fiction at The Hub

Book Review: Not a Chance

Not a Chance

written by Michelle Mulder

Dian has been traveling from her home in Canada to the Dominican Republic with her doctor parents every summer since she was five-years old. This year she's thirteen and ready to stay at home, but her parents drag her along anyway. The only bright spot in her summer is seeing her best friend, Aracely, who is fourteen and lives in the small town where Dian's parents set up their clinic. Even this small happiness soon fades though when Aracely tells Dian she is engaged to be married. Dian is flabbergasted--Aracely had planned to move to Canada with Dian's family in a few years, later study to become a doctor, and ultimately return to help the people in her rural village. Learning that her friend has never really wanted to do any of these things is a further blow to Dian, who cannot understand why Aracely would choose what Dian views as a typical village life over the opportunity to study in Canada. She is further concerned by Aracely's fear that she'll never get another chance at marriage, due to the scar she bears on her cheek, relic of an accident when she was four.

Book Review: The Summer Prince

The Summer Prince
by Alaya Dawn Johnson

In the future city of Palmares Tres, located in modern-day Brazil, a Summer King is elected every five years. In a city ruled by women, the position holds little power--the main purpose of a Summer King is to reaffirm the right of the Queen to reign for another five years. This affirmation is given as the Summer King dies, sacrificed on an altar, his throat slit by the Queen herself. When June Costa's father takes her to see her first Summer King sacrificed, she is eight-years old and horrified by the bloody practice. However, by the time she is eighteen she is used to the tradition, but everything changes the year Enki, a beautiful, defiant young man, is elected as Summer King. The entire city falls in love with Enki--including June and her best friend, Gil. Like June, Enki is an artist, and together they produce some incredible art that shakes the very foundations of the principles their city is built upon. But unlike June, Enki wasn't raised in privilege, and his willingness to sacrifice his life to be Summer King is rooted in a purpose more radical than June is willing to accept. The closer June gets to Enki, the harder it is to accept his impending death. In the end, June will have to choose whether following the rules to achieve her dream of becoming a successful artist is more important than her principles.