Outside of a Dog, #43

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx.

We featured realistic YA fiction last week, and this week, we’re making quite a jump – to YA books about the fabled creatures called faeries (or fairies, or fey.)

Few fantastical beings are so good at being heroes and villains – sometimes even at the same time. Here are a few of our favorites:

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale – Holly Black

The first in a loosely-related trilogy, Tithe introduces the reader to Kaye, a 16-year old girl who travels with her mother’s rock band. Until, of course, Kaye discovers that she’s a pixie, and a pawn in between the two faerie Courts, one of which holds control of the Knight Roiben, with whom Kaye has a connection with. There are two other novels in the Modern Faerie Tales set – Valiant, and Ironside. Check out the author’s website, and see some fan art of Kaye, Roiben, and others.

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The Blue Girl – Charles de Lint

Another novel about growing up and away from your past is The Blue Girl, by Great Lakes Great Books Award winner Charles de Lint. Imogene has just moved the to town of Newford, hoping to escape and reinvent herself from the gang girl to someone who gets into a little less trouble, and maybe tries a little harder at school. She makes friends – and enemies – both real and incorporeal (the school’s resident ghost has a crush on her), all while the faeries of the shadow world are trying to rebel. De Lint has written over 60 books, many of them from his Newford series. Check out his website for more information.

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Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr

We’ve profiled this book before – the story of Aislinn, who can see faeries, and her entrance into the fight between the winter and summer courts of Faerie. There’s also a sequel – Ink Exchange – and an upcoming third book about Aislinn, called Fragile Eternity, which just came out today.

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(Also available in downloadable e-audiobook format)

Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett

Pratchett, who writes about Discworld and the Wee Free Men, revisits witch-in-training Tiffany Aching in this novel. Tiffany, unfortunately, interrupts the Dance of the Seasons, and finds herself a target of the elemental spirit of Winter. She’ll need all the help she can get in this third story.

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Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer

Now numbering six books (the sixth is The Time Paradox, released last year), the adventures of boy-genius and millionaire Artemis Fowl, started here, in 2001. The boy has lost his father, and his mother stays in bed all day, paying no mind to little “Arty.” So what else should an heir to a fortune with time to spare and a personal bodyguard do? Travel the world looking for the secrets of the fairies, of course! This book has also been made into a graphic novel, with plans for the other books to follow.

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Join us next week when we profile fairy books for children!