The Emerald Circus

Publishers Weekly Big Indie Books of Fall 2017
School Library Journal All-Star Adult Books for Teens
Foreword Reviewer's Choice--Favorite Books of 2017
Locu2017 Recommended Reading List

[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

[STARRED REVIEW] Though only one of the 16 stories in Yolen's latest story collection is newly published, the selections are anything but haphazard. The central vision of the compilation is the reimagining of folktales, legends, literature, and history. More than that, the volume feels unified by themes and imagery. The most obvious connections are three retellings of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and three takes on the quasi-historical basis of the King Arthur myths. But even these seemingly discrete blocks of stories feed into the rest of the volume. One of the Arthur tales, for example, features the story of Merlin being told to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the real author of some of the earliest Arthurian legends. Yolen takes up this thread of focusing on the creative process again and again as she weaves stories of the magic behind Hans Christian Andersen, Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Dickinson. And of course, every entry contains Yolen's crystalline prose, which captures the magic in reality, and vice versa, with ease and grace. Each tale is accompanied by a brief note from Yolen and a related poem, almost all written newly for this work. VERDICT: These highly entertaining retellings are perfect for teens fans of fairy tales and classic literature, though they are easily enjoyed without any background knowledge.
--School Library Journal

Ever the wordsmith, Yolen dazzles with her first short story collection for adults in years.
--Booklist

An impressive overview of the author's breadth and career, this collection will appeal to the author's existing devotees--or to anyone who has ever thought that happily ever after left too many questions.
--Kirkus

Jane Yolen's [The] Emerald Circus may be my favorite book of the year, period, with apologies to Jeff Vandermeer's Borne. Many years ago, when I had my own blog, I wrote a post celebrating the versatility of Yolen--one of the few authors who can write top-shelf books at any age level. [The] Emerald Circus is a perfect example of her fluid but rock-solid prose.
--Mark Flowers, Adult Books for Teens, School Library Journal

Jane Yolen's The Emerald Circus is full of marvels. She introduces familiar acts and actors into her rings and then tricks us into seeing them from complex, unexpected angles. She turns toads into witches, Sir Lancelot into a 600 year old monk, Dorothy into a tightrope walker, and Emily Dickinson into a spacefarer. The stories themselves change between one reading and another, always revealing more, always at a different slant than before, in language that is rich, unholy, and, like the tales themselves, beautifully unpredictable. From Snow Queen to spaceship, The Emerald Circus is a delight.
--Patricia A. McKillip, author of the Riddle-Master trilogy and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

With over 350 books, Jane Yolen is a legend in the world of children's and young-adult literature, but her acerbic and witty adult fiction and poetry offer their own pleasures. The 16 stories here, each accompanied by a related poem and notes, revisit some iconic classics, but always from a new, thought-provoking angle.
--Chicago Tribune

An excellent collection of fairy tale 'retellings' written by Nebula Award-winning author Jane Yolen . . . a collection I would recommend to everyone.
--Infinite Text

Jane Yolen is a consummate storyteller, weaving old and new threads to create tales rich in wisdom and depth. The Emerald Circus is an utter delight.
--Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of Sevenwaters series

The Emerald Circus dances at the border between bucking tradition and paying homage to the great stories and figures of ages past. The result is a brilliant assemblage of narratives with the potential to leave an audience spellbound.
--Foreword, starred review

Talk about imaginary gardens with real toads in them! In this wide-ranging short story collection, Jane Yolen's scholarship and creative genius combine to bestow upon the reader fantastic new intimacy with venerable tales and persons.
--Nancy Springer, author of The White Hart and I Am Mordred

Jane Yolen facets her glittering stories with the craft of a master jeweller. Everything she writes, including The Emerald Circus, is original and timeless, deliciously creepy and disturbingly lovely.
--Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity

In this masterful collection, Jane Yolen draws upon myth, fairy tales, history, poetry, and children's classics from Alice to Oz to fashion new tales from the bones of the old. There is simply no better storyteller working in the fantasy field today. She's a national treasure.
--Terri Windling, author of The Wood Wife and The Essential Bordertown

What a joy it is to watch Jane Yolen burrow into the hearts of familiar stories and dwell in possibilities we'd never imagined. It's all done with Yolen's trademark wisdom, a healthy dollop of subversion, and a twinkle in the eye. A delight!
--Susan Fletcher, author of Dragon's Milk and Shadow Spinner

Jane Yolen's collection The Emerald Circus is pure delight for anyone who craves inspired retellings of classics from literature, or re-imaginings of the lives of real literary figures. 5/5 stars
--YA Books Central

An excellent collection.
--Fantasy Literature

Definitely one worth reading. I loved it . . . I was excited to read The Emerald Circus, and was not disappointed in the least.
--Confessions of a Book Addict

Honestly, I don't know when Jane Yolen finds time to sleep but I'm selfishly glad she's been able to produce wonderful stories filled with deft turns of phrases, palpable atmosphere, and interesting, flawed characters.
--Sabrina's Library

Marvellous and entertaining.
--Risingshadow

In this collection you will be surprised, shocked, intrigued, and awed both by new tales and by new perspectives on old, well-loved tales. 5/5 stars
--Imagine a Book SF

Oh Boy! I did love this book . . .
--YA Lit Ramblings

The best book I've read in a long time.
--Amazon, Celebrity Picks by Brandon Sanderson

I loved the stories in The Emerald Circus. . . I'd highly recommend this collection. 5/5 stars.
--The Book Lover's Boudoir

It's always a treat to read a new Jane Yolen tale, but it's especially rewarding when you thought you read them all, and then along comes The Emerald Circus collection.
--True Review

This is a book to go back to for a writer so you can pull it apart and learn technique . . . one to keep.
--Strange Alliances

Fantasy with a feminist twist.
--Book Skill

A writer who has perfected [her] own voice. If you enjoy reading fresh, sometimes subversive, but always affectionate takes on the stories that we all grew up with, I recommend this collection without reservation.
--SF Revu

Praise for Jane Yolen

The Hans Christian Andersen of America
--Newsweek

The Aesop of the twentieth century
--The New York Times

Jane Yolen is a gem in the diadem of science fiction and fantasy.
--Analog

Holly Black (Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, Doll Bones) is the bestselling author of adult, young adult, children's books. Black has co-written the Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony Di Terlizzi), the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare) and she has recently begun work on the graphic novels series, Lucifer. She is the recipient of the Newbery Medal, and the Andre Norton and Mythopoeic awards. Black lives in New England.