A collection of fifteen traditional tales from various parts of the world, with the main character of each being a fearless, strong, heroic, and resourceful woman.

In her newest short fiction collection, beloved fantasy author Jane Yolen's dark side has fully emerged. Her vivid, startling, and thrilling tales of the supernatural-from icy-hearted witches to occasionally-innocent shapeshifters-reveal a classic storyteller at the height of her powers. "Jane Yolen is the Hans Christian Andersen of America" -The New York Times Welcome to the Midnight Circus-and watch your step. The dark imaginings of fantasy icon...

An inept wizard-in-training is the only one who can save his classmates from the terrible sorcery that threatens to devour their magical school. Acclaimed master fantasist Jane Yolen imagines an academic world of wonders where paintings speak, walls move, monsters are made real, and absolutely anything can happen - as she introduces readers to a hero as hapless as the legendary Merlin is powerful. It was Henry's dear ma who decided to send him off...

All magic has consequences Long ago, the seawitch Dread Mary fell in love with a hard-hearted prince and gave him the Magic Three of Solatia: three silver buttons that could fulfill any wish-but at a price. Centuries later, the buttons belong to Sianna of the Song, a button maker's daughter and heir to all of Dread Mary's magic secrets. But the cruel King Blaggard of Solatia seeks to wed the lovely Sianna and steal her power. Sianna will need her...

What were all those fairy-tale characters thinking? Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich answer this question in paired poems, with sometimes startling results. The Princess claims all those mattresses kept her awake?not a silly pea?while the poor pea complains that the princess snores. One Snow White begs the witch to settle by the bay and throw that mirror away. Another boldly tells the mirror she ?won?t be guided by a glass that?s so one-sided.?...

Before she became Queen of the Amazons, young Hippolyta fought to break a goddess's curse . . . An ancient prophecy states that any Amazon who bears two sons must kill the second, lest he grow up to destroy all the Amazons. But Queen Otrere can't bear to sacrifice her baby, so she gives him to her daughter, thirteen-year-old Hippolyta, begging her to take the child to his father, Laomedon, King of Troy. In order to save her baby brother's life, Hippolyta...

The first book of a thought-provoking fantasy trilogy about a warrior woman who, together with her dark twin, is destined to remake the world Legend foretold the child named Jenna, who was three-times orphaned before she could crawl, a fate that would leave her in the hands of women who worshipped the benevolent goddess Great Alta. In this world without men, Jenna comes of age, learning quickly the skills of close combat. But her most powerful gift...