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Briar Rose
Briar Rose: A Novel of the Fairy Tale Series | Jane Yolen
Rewrites the old German folktale, Sleeping Beauty, into a story about the ramifications of the Holocaust.
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review
merelybookish
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Pickpick

Rebecca grows up listening to her grandmother's retelling of Briar Rose. And on her deathbed, she claims that she *is* Briar Rose. Rebecca then travels to Poland to discover the truth behind her beloved grandmother's fairy tale. Yolen skillfully weaves together Sleeping Beauty with the history of the Holocaust. It's a bold take and shows why fairy tales continue to help us make meaning out of our experiences.

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merelybookish
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Current listen. Part of the same series of fairy tale reimaginings as Pamela Dean's Tam Lin (which I LOVE.)

Aimeesue This one was powerful. I remember it vividly. 11mo
JamieArc I read this in a young adult lit class in college and was fascinated by it. it put me down a rabbit hole of fairytale retellings. 11mo
batsy Look forward to your review. Think I've also mentioned my love for Tam Lin; I've been meaning to check out the Yolen for a couple decades 😆 11mo
See All 6 Comments
merelybookish @Aimeesue Good to hear! 11mo
merelybookish @JamieArc Interesting! It's feels YA-ish but also not in another. 11mo
merelybookish @batsy Lol. I don't know if anything can beat Tam Lin. This one is very different but is doing something interesting with adapting a fairy tale. 11mo
56 likes1 stack add6 comments
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Susanita
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📗Yes Please
🖊️Jane Yolen
🎥Young Frankenstein
🎤Trisha Yearwood
🎶You Send Me (Sam Cooke)
A very mixed bag for #manicmonday #letterY

CBee I LOVE Sam Cooke ♥️ 2y
35 likes1 comment
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megnews
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Pickpick

Very creative approach to share history through a fairy tale retelling. I love Jane Yolen.

JamieArc I loved this one. It got me into fairytale retellings. 2y
41 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Butterfinger
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Pickpick

#FairytaleReadingChallenge @Charityann

When I found out the metaphor, I was in shock. How disrespectful. How offensive to take a horrendous event and change it to a fairy tale. By the end, I changed. The book changed me. How clever. How creative to take a sad story and teach your grandchildren the horrors by using a fairy tale.

And then I realized, fairy tales have been used for this purpose for ages.

Chrissyreadit Jane Yolen is one of my all time favorite authors. I read this book decades ago and the impact was with me for a long time. 3y
43 likes1 comment
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Reagan
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Another new book started but I‘m just entirely mood reading which has been great. I finished 9 books this month!! In other terrible weekend news, the pictured kitty, Dieter, has a terrible cold and I‘m so upset. I hope she starts feeling better soon. 😩😩😩 cats shouldn‘t have colds on #caturday

Deblovestoread Hope your kitty is better soon! 4y
Reagan @Kdgordon88 I hope so too! Thank you! 4y
TheLibrarian Hope your kitty starts feeling better soon! ❤️ 4y
55 likes3 comments
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AllisonM89
Pickpick

Brilliant brilliant story and parallels, not sure if i love some of the ways in which Yolen chose to tell the story, but it's undeniably cleverly done.

#doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
#bookspinbingo
Square 4 ✔️

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4y
12 likes1 comment
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AllisonM89
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A book by Yolen with a forward by Windling? Yes, please! Guaranteed to be brilliant ❤️

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amber_ldsmom
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Panpan

I really liked the idea of this book, but it really didn‘t pan out for me. Even though it‘s historical fiction about the Holocaust, it didn‘t feel real. The characters weren‘t relatable, and there was no real emotional connection.

26 likes1 stack add
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hissingpotatoes
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Pickpick

5/5⭐ "His voice had a wonderful flow to it, and even the awful things he had to say were beautifully said." This book in a nutshell.

You cannot "enjoy" a book about the Holocaust. I often had to put it down because it was so difficult to experience. But the way Jane Yolen uses the tale of Sleeping Beauty as a living interpretive lens for the characters and readers...wow. Just wow. This book is truly in a league of its own. #OWLsReadathon2019

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Jillybeane
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Pickpick

It‘s sweet, horrifying, and dripping with Gemma‘s hidden history. Simple and complex, a portrait of contrasts.

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Jee_HookedOnBookz
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One of the books from my ever-growing TBR stack 😅 Hoping to read this retelling of Sleeping Beauty soon! Have you read it? Did you enjoy it?

#literarylove #roses @vkois88 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

neet_reads I read this for school years ago 6y
Susanita It‘s a beautiful book. 6y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego It was good. I can totally see it being read in school, as an age appropriate introduction to the holocaust. 6y
See All 8 Comments
Jee_HookedOnBookz @neet_reads 👍🏼👍🏼 6y
Jee_HookedOnBookz @Susanita I'll try to get to it as soon as I can! Most likely after Feb 😅 6y
Jee_HookedOnBookz @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego I'm looking forward to reading it :) 6y
vkois88 It sounds really good! 6y
73 likes8 comments
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silentrequiem
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How badly is this book going to break me?

LibrarianRyan It‘s Jane Yolen. You never know. 6y
51 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Jillybeane
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Next up on the #readingwomenchallenge, a book featuring a religion other than your own. I‘ve had this book for years and years, and I thought I‘d try to do as much of this challenge as I could from books I already have.
#tbrstack #readingchallenge #teaandagoodbook #readingduringthesuperbowl

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Nessavamusic
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Here is my possible list for #winter #booked2019 I am going for different books for each goal, though several of these are #newtomeauthors
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft @Cinfhen

alisiakae Which one reminds you of your happy place? I love what people are choosing and how they choose for that prompt! 6y
BarbaraTheBibliophage So wait ... Wonder Woman is your happy place? 🙌🏻♥️😎 6y
Chrissyreadit I love Jane Yolen. I remember I loved Briar Rose- and still have my copy from about 30 years ago. 6y
See All 6 Comments
Nessavamusic Wonder Woman is completely my happy place 😍 6y
Cinfhen Ha! I thought Brooklyn was your happy place!!! Awesome choices!!! 6y
Nessavamusic Nope Brooklyn is my Irish choice 😉 (edited) 6y
61 likes6 comments
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StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego
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A Sleeping Beauty retelling connected to the Holocaust.

This book was clearly marked up from use in a book report. A great story to share, with young adults, some of the atrocities that happened in Poland during WWII.

98 likes7 stack adds
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Chelsibno
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I'm not exactly sure why, but I really enjoy books set during World War II. #SetInFaveEra #FallIntoBooks @RealLifeReading

Lwiesman I love them too!! Just starting Beneath a Scarlet Sky. 7y
48 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Moonchild_booknerd89
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Pickpick

A high school favorite

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Esawdey
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Pickpick

The Holocaust meets Sleeping Beauty in this tragically beautiful tale.

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mrp27
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#sizzlingsummerbooks

A #retelling of Sleeping Beauty through one of history's worst moments. A heartbreaking story.

LibrarianRyan I have this on my self and on my TBR. I love how Yolen writes. 7y
mrp27 @LibrarianRyan Agreed, she's a good one. I don't think this was one of her better ones, but still good. 7y
20 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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Roadkilled
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I didn't notice there was a face behind the briars. I used to think I don't like this cover art.
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As I read, I am reminded of a friends's impression after visiting what used to be a concentration camp. even after all these years there was a heavy feel to the place. it didn't help that it was raining at that time. the pictures she took of the place were already depressing, but she said the pictures didn't do it justice.

2 likes1 stack add
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Roadkilled

yey! my officemate finally returned this book.

found it a booksale a while ago but I've been hesitant in reading it when I read the blurb. I learned it touch what happened to the Jews during WW2.
And I've always shied away from books that have depressing themes. I know that I shouldn't do that.

there's a reason I've loved reading romances.

I started the book (I didn't have hobb's book at the time) and it seems a hopeful story. we'll see..

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Susanita
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A #fairytaleretelling against the backdrop of the Holocaust. Beautifully written and heart breaking. #photoadaynov16

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niki.inwonderland
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Yossarian
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Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow after exhausting myself with two hours of unplanned yard work tonight.

I think it was Ben Franklin who said, Early to bed, early to rise, and you miss all of the good parties.

Lreads I read that Ben Franklin rarely took his own advice! 😉 8y
123 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Peddler410
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Pickpick

Love this book! One of my favorite about the Holocaust.

9 likes1 stack add
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BeckyLeJ
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Bday books part 1.

Megabooks Awesome bday! 😃👍🏻 8y
15 likes1 comment