Spindle

by E. K. Johnston

Overview

"The Storyteller Queen lives, and her name is E. K. Johnston." — Rachel Hartman, New York Times best-selling author of Seraphina

The follow-up to A Thousand Nights, Spindle is the feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess saves herself and owns the narrative.

The prison is crumbling. Through years of careful manipulation, a demon has regained her power. She has made one kingdom strong and brought the other to its knees, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When a princess is born, the demon is ready with the final blow: a curse that will cost the princess her very soul, or force her to destroy her own people to save her life.

The threads of magic are tightly spun, binding princess and exiled spinners into a desperate plot to break the curse before the demon can become a queen of men. But the web of power is dangerously tangled — and they may not see the true pattern until it is unspooled. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484722282
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she's learned anything, it's that things turn out weird sometimes, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it's about a pairing she likes.

You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for the pretty pictures, or online at ekjohnston.ca.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2016
Gr 6 Up—Following in the footsteps of Johnston's A Thousand Nights, this is a new spin on "Sleeping Beauty." Despite taking the perspective of Little Rose's potential savior, the story has a decidedly feminist slant, focusing on the princess's growth, power, autonomy, and eventual self-rescue. Johnston fleshes out the narrative with an adventuring party of two additional boys, a girl, and a malevolent female spirit manipulating a prince. Of particular note, this fairy-tale retelling describes characters as having dark skin. There are additional feminist touches, such as making spinning a creative (and gender-neutral) national occupation. The writing is a mix of stately prose and a conversational tone. The balance of fantastical elements and modern sensibilities, though awkward at times, will intrigue most middle to high school readers. VERDICT Hand this clever work to fans of the companion book.—Erin Reilly-Sanders, University of Wisconsin-Madison

School Library Journal

2016-07-26
A blonde, brown-skinned princess, cursed at a birthday party to a certain death and saved by a weak magic that promises sleep instead, all tied to a spindle: you know where this one is going, although this is as much reinterpretation as retelling. Generations after the Storyteller Queen defeated the demon who controlled a king and killed his many wives (A Thousand Nights, 2015), demons remain imprisoned, but one has spent the time plotting and growing stronger. Kharuf and Qamih, rival kingdoms, are the demon’s pawns, particularly cruel Prince Maram and lovely Princess Zahrah, the Little Rose, cursed to become a vehicle for the demon. Narrated by spinner and fighter Yashaa, who, with the help of three friends, rescues and then eventually falls in love with Zahrah, this retelling is needlessly complicated. It depends too much on familiarity with the companion novel and does little with its Middle Eastern influences; indeed, such flourishes as gold-dust–trailing piskeys and sprites seem Disney-fied, while the demons here are purely evil rather than complex natural forces. The often lovely writing and the surprising and original ending can’t redeem the underdeveloped characters, unsubtle repeat imagery, or bland romance. This companion to the stellar A Thousand Nights shares the trappings but not the spirit. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

Kirkus Review

"The most powerful stories encompass a paradox. SPINDLE is both mythic and true, old beyond reckoning and dazzlingly, gloriously new. You've known this story all your life; you have never heard its like before. The Storyteller Queen lives, and her name is E. K. Johnston."—Rachel Hartman, New York Times best-selling author of Seraphina

"The framework of 'Sleeping Beauty' plays out against a hot desert setting, with Yashaa playing the reluctant hero and Little Rose possessing far more agency, wit, and intelligence than is afforded to most fairy-tale princesses... Pleasing readers who would prefer their ever afters to be bittersweet."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Despite taking the perspective of Little Rose's potential savior, the story has a decidedly feminist slant, focusing on the princess's growth, power, autonomy, and eventual self-rescue... Hand this clever work to fans of the companion book."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher