Robin McKinley, who wrote this book a quarter of a century ago and published it in the US, has treated the tale with respect and care, and she tells it straight. They may very well never read or see another account of one of the most moving stories in the world. Beauty and the Beast may be familiar to many, but for a lot of children the version they know best is the Disney cartoon. McKinley uses fantasy fiction to provide examples of drastic change to status quo.There will be those who ask: why write at such length when all you're doing is going over old ground? Or why does such a good writer choose to raid the traditional canon of fairytales instead of making up new stuff ? The third question everyone will ask is what, in advertising jargon, is this book's target audience? McKinley offers a portrait of nature as a place where non-traditional events may occur and she creates strong, independent protagonists who aren’t content to just do as they are told. These books were chosen out of McKinley’s work for their emphasis on gender and nature, themes that are never far away in McKinley’s books. Dragonhaven (2007) is the tale of Jake, a boy who lives in an isolated national park and finds a baby dragon. Sunshine (2003) is a vampire story, where contradictions can’t quite stay contradictory, and an ordinary book-loving, cinnamon bun-making woman is unexpectedly thrust into fighting vampires. Spindle’s End (2000) is McKinley’s retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” full of talking animals, a magical countryside, and a princess who dares to save herself. The Blue Sword (1982) is the sequel to The Hero and the Crown, which deals with themes of colonization and bravery in the face of the unknown. The books discussed here exemplify McKinley’s protagonists that come to realize their identities through finding self-confidence and courage. Jack Zipes describes McKinley’s heroines as "self-confident, courageous young women who take the initiative in a world which they help to define with men…it is the woman who dares to oppose tyranny, to seek alternatives to oppression…for McKinley there is no reason why women cannot live the lives they choose for themselves if they are willing to struggle and surmount obstacles, which apparently hinder men, too, from realizing their identities (23-24)." Her latest book, Pegasus, was published in 2010. She has won a few awards, including the Newbery Award in 1985 for her novel The Hero and the Crown. She continues to write fairytales and other fantastic fiction, utilizing the fairytale form and structure. Her first book, Beauty, a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” was published in 1978. Robin McKinley is an American fantasy author who uses fairytale structure to explore themes of gender and nature.
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