Welcome to our Fairy tale Adaptations book club! This go round we’ve selected four books that showed their author’s take on various fairy tales and folktales. Each of our books below have their own Discussion Posts and don’t forget, we’ll be having our Zoom Book Club on Saturday September 18 at 7 pm EDT.
Other Discussions
- The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
- Deerskin by Robin McKinley
- Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
- Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
For those of you returning or who might be joining in for #CannonBookClub for the first time (hello new friends!) all are welcome, you don’t have to be registered for CBR13. The topics are numbered, and we ask that you refer to them below by that number to help people find the conversations they are looking for. If you are responding to someone else’s thoughts, please try to reply directly to them.
We will also be talking on our Social Media platforms, and of course in our Facebook group, Cannonball Read Book Chat, we’ll have some additional prompts so please join us there as well. Now, on to the questions!
- Do you think there ‘s any special power in taking a known story and envisioning it in a new way?
- A constant theme throughout this book are Vasya’s clashes with her family and villagers. What do you think of her decisions to not assimilate, to not give in to expectations?
- It is not a story of good vs. evil, but of many opposing forces. How does Vasya fit in when these opposing forces overlap?
- The Bear and the Nightingale draws from many Russian folktales, did you notice them? Did you see any illusions to its listed adaptation, Rumpelstiltskin?
- Morozko plays many roles in the course of the story, are they all of equal importance?
- The Big Bad of the story unveils himself late in the story but he isn’t the only antagonist Vasya runs across. What do you feel about the various “villains” in this story?
- I’ve got thoughts and feelings that don’t fit in the topics above, meet me in the comments.
