The Emerald Circus

[STARRED REVIEW] “Beauty sneaks out to get a Christmas gift for the Beast, the first of several wrong decisions in ‘The Gift of the Magicians, with Apologies to You Know Who.’ In ‘Blown Away,’ Dorothy’s twister takes her away, not to a magical land but the Emerald Circus, and she returns home as a gymnastic performer who changes many lives. Wendy leads a labor strike against the Lost Boys in ‘Lost Girls.’ After more than a decade, Yolen (Briar Rose; Sister Emily’s Starship and Other Stories) returns with 16 stories that take readers sideways and upside down through beloved fairy tales and classic tales such as Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz, while also reimagining the lives of famous storytellers such as Hans Christian Anderson, Edgar Allan Poe and ¬Emily Dickinson. VERDICT: These delightful retellings of favorite stories will captivate newcomers and fans of Yolen as she once again delivers the magic, humor, and lovely prose that has attracted readers for years.” ¯Library Journal, starred review