Another week, another list. Weve done Rapunzel retellings, Cinderella retellings, and Robin Hood retellings, so why not Red Riding Hood retellings? Of all the fairytale heroines, Red Riding Hood has probably copped the most flack, largely for being utterly without perception and completely helpless when it comes to saving herself. Fortunately, some of the below offer a slightly more modern take on the traditionally submissive and dull-witted Little Red.
As always, feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
(All blurbs taken from Amazon.)
Red Riding Hood'by'Sarah Blakley-Cartwright'and David Leslie Johnson (see my review)
Valerie is in love with the dangerous and unlikable Peter (a woodcutter, of course) but is betrothed to the rich hot blacksmith in town, Henry. Their town has been terrorised by a wolf a wolf that appears only at the full moon and when Valeries sister is brutally murdered the message is clear: shes next.
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Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce (see my review)
Scarlett and Rosie March have spent years hunting the Ferriswerewolves that took Scarletts eye in a brutal attack years ago. But the Ferris are getting stronger, and when a rash of murders shakes Atlanta, the sisters move into the city for answers.
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Red Riders Hood by Neal Shusterman
A familiar fairy tale becomes a brooding story about a city plagued by gangs. Red takes on the Wolves after they rob his grandmother. He joins them to discover their weaknesses, but at the next full moon, will he take up their murderous ways or take them down?
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Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George
When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregors twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and its not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse.
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Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie
The True Face of Love Ruths grandmother lives in the forest, banished there for the evil that the townsfolk believed she practiced. But if studying the stars, learning about nature, and dreaming of flying is evil, then Ruth is guilty of it too. Whenever Ruth took food and supplies to her grandmother, she would sit with the old woman for hours, listening and learning. When she wasnt in the woods, Ruth was learning the trade of her father, a blacksmith, now that her brother would never return from the Crusades. Amidst those dark days, a new man enters Ruths life. William is a noble with a hot temper and a bad name, and he makes her shiver. But the young man is prey to his heritage, a curse placed on his family ages ago, and each male of the family has strange blood running in his veins. Now Ruth must come face-to-face with his destiny at Grandmas house.
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Wolf'by'Gillian Cross
Cassy lives with her granny, until the night that she hears strange footsteps coming into their flat. The next morning, she is packed off to her mums a squat in London that her beautiful, simple mother shares with a couple of actors. Cassy does her best to throw herself into her mothers life, even agreeing to take part in their travelling show called Wolf. But she cant ever get rid of the feeling that something is following her, and something bad is going to happen. Her fear grows as time passes, until Cassy knows she must face up to her past: who her father is, why he left and where he has gone. What she doesnt know is that some questions are better left unanswered
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Red Hoods Revenge by Jim C. Hines
Wars may end. But vengeance is forever. Roudettes story was a simple one. A red cape. A wolf. A hunter. Her mother told her she would be safe, so long as she kept to the path. But sometimes the path leads to dark places. Roudette is the hunter now, an assassin known throughout the world as the Lady of the Red Hood. Her mission will take her to the country of Arathea and an ancient fairy threat. At the heart of the conflict between humans and fairies stands the woman Roudette has been hired to kill, the only human ever to have fought the Lady of the Red Hood and survived-the princess known as Sleeping Beauty.
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Cloaked in Red'by Vivian Vande Velde
So you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species? Well, then, try your hand at answering these questions: Which character (not including Little Red herself) is the most fashion challenged? Who (not including the wolf) is the scariest? Who (not including Granny) is the most easily scared? Who is the strangest (notice were not not including anyone, because theyre all a little off.)? Who (no fair saying the author) has stuffing for brains? Master storyteller Vivian Vande Velde crafts eight new stories involving one of the worlds most beloved (and mixed-up) characters in literature. You may never look at fairy tales in quite the same way again.
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Dust City'by Robert Paul Weston
Whos afraid of the big bad wolf? His son, thats who. Ever since his fathers arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, teen wolf Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves . . . until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed. Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City: a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone-and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner. Can Henry solve the mystery of his familys sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?
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Little Red Riding Hood in the Red Light District by'Manlio Argueta
This award-winning novel revolves around the relationship between two young lovers in a time of political upheaval, evoking characters and themes from the classic fairy tale within the wartime environment of El Salvador. The red light district refers not only to sexual exploitation but also to the political violence Salvadorans suffered in the late seventies.
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Little Miss Red'by Robin Palmer
ophie Greene gets good grades, does the right thing, and has a boyfriend that her parents' and her younger brother'just love. (Too bad she doesn't love him.) Sophie dreams of being more like Devon Deveraux, star of her favorite romance novels, but, in reality, Sophie isn't even daring enough to change her nail polish. All of that changes when Sophie goes to Florida to visit her grandma Roz, and she finds herself seated next to a wolfishly goodlooking guy on the plane. The two hit it off, and before she knows it, Sophie's living on the edge. But is the drama all it's cracked up to be?
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Darkest Desire: The Wolfs Own Tale by'Anthony Schmitz
Wolfs life in the wood might be happy, except for one problem. He cant control his urge to devour children who stumble across his path. His runaway desires have made him an outcast among his peers. He lives an unhappy, solitary life until he encounters the Brothers Grimm. Wolf is thrilled to realize that in the presence of these scholars, he can speak. The Grimms take Wolf into their camp, fill him with brandy, and poke at the source of his easily apparent unhappiness. When they learn the truth about Wolfs cravings, they propose a cure.'Now Wolf must make a decision. Can the satisfaction of a normal life outweigh the joys of his perversion? Are his desires truly deranged, or is he simply giving full expression to his personal nature? Does he have an obligation as his occasional companion Devil argues to live as a unique individual in the manner to which he was born?'Wolf trust his new friends, and agrees to their cure. The brothers construct a complicated and dangerous scenario to discover how Wolf will behave. Is Wolf nothing more than a subject for research? The Grimms no more than conniving reporters?'Ultimately, Wolf, Devil, the Brothers Grimm, an outraged Frau, and her endangered babe collide at a pool in the dark wood to settle ancient questions: Can the deepest and most perverse desires ever be overruled? Or more important,'should'they?
