Block, Francesca Lia. (2000). The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold. New York: Joanna Colter Books. ISBN: 0064407454. 229 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: "Snow," "Tiny," "Glass," "Charm," "Wolf," "Rose," "Bones," "Beast," and "Ice." These are the nine stories Block tells in this collection. All are revisions of fairy tales, and they are primarily located in Los Angeles, California. These heroines aren't the passive dreamers of Perrault and the Brother's Grimm. Nor are they the powerful heroines of Robin McKinley or Gail Carson Levine or Terry Pratchett.

These are not stories for children, it is clear they are intended for young adults. Block's retold fairy tales are closer to the gritty, confessional nature of Anne Sexton's poetry collection Transformations. Block's characters are mix of drug addicts, dreamers, fighters, artists, and ingénues and range in age from teenage years to their twenties.

As a sucker for fairy tales, and their revisions, I ate this book up, and found myself satisfied. I was pleased to see "Rose," "Tiny," and "Ice" which are based on less familiar tales. There is enough in each story so that the reader recognizes its origins and enough new about them to bring a fresh perspective. "Snow" and "Glass" explore other options of love that could be found in "Snow White" and "Cinderella." Sometimes the stories remain too ethereal, leaving the stories confusing at the end. Sometimes the stories are overwrought in their poetics. Others, however, resonate with explorations on love and female empowerment. Many times, the skillful writing propels you forward into a magical world and you happily remain there, breathless, until the story is over.

Perhaps the most intriguing story to me was "Bones" with its modern-day "Bluebeard" completely aware of his murderous tendencies, self-proclaiming his name to be Blue. This story becomes a contemporary cautionary tale, in a way that is more effective than the original story. In addition its awareness of its revision of a fairy tale creates an exciting twist to the story. "I will rewrite the story of Bluebeard. The girl's brothers don't come to save her on horses," the narrator writes as she begins the story's conclusion. I love how it is suddenly meta.

While I enjoyed all of the stories, the book's presentation was a bit curious. I wondered a bit about the order as one of the weakest characters is found in the final story. More curious, though is the layout. The book's page margins are huge, and the text looks like the size of a cracker on each page. While the book was over 200 pages, in a different format, I don't think it would have been over 100. At times, this was problematic.

Booktalk: I could begin by asking for a show of hands of what fairy tales they remember or which was their favorite. Using this as a point of entry, I could retell one of these listed stories to the group, but tell it according to Block's version. I could then explain how Block takes the familiar stories and revises them.