Just Ella (Margaret Peterson Haddix)

Author Biography

Margaret Peterson Haddix is a prolific, award-winning author of children’s and young adult literature, best known for the two series Shadow Children and The Missing. She lives in Columbus, Ohio

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Year: 1999

ISBN: 978-0-7614-5536-3

Reading Level: Grades 6 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

What if the story of Cinderella wasn’t really the fairy tale we’ve been told? And what if Ella’s “happily ever after” wasn’t so happy?

Goddess of Yesterday (Caroline B. Cooney)

Author Biography

Caroline B. Cooney has written numerous young adult novels, specializing in suspense, romance, horror and mystery. She lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Published By: Delacorte Press

Year: 2002

ISBN: 978-0-440—22930-8

Reading Level: Grades 8 and up.

Reader’s Annotation:

Taken from her family as a small child, Anaxandra is swept from place to place and from identity to identity amid the turmoil of ancient Greece. Can she survive all this upheaval, even as the Trojan War rages around her?

Wild Orchid: A Retelling of "The Ballad of Mulan" (Cameron Dokey)

Author Biography

Cameron Dokey has written more than thirty books for young adults, including several titles in the Once Upon a Time series of fairy-tale and legend retellings. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Published By: Simon Pulse

Year: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4169-7168

Reading Level: Grades 6 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

Fiery, tomboyish, and skilled in the arts of combat, Mulan is a wildflower like the orchids she was named for. But does she have the mettle to go to war against China’s greatest enemies, while hiding her gender from her fellow soldiers?

Bound (Donna Jo Napoli)

Author Biography

Donna Jo Napoli is head of the linguistics department at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She has written dozens of books for children, tweens and young adults alike.

Published By: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Year: 2004

ISBN: 0-689-86175-3

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

Reader’s Annotation:

In this Chinese-flavored “Cinderella” retelling, Xing Xing is an unwanted stepdaughter in a society where girls are worthless. But will she be bound by oppression forever?