The best part about retellings of beloved classic novels is that you get to experience a familiar story through another lens. Whenever I’m reading a retelling (which is often) I feel as though I am being given permission to crawl into the author’s mind and reread a book I love from their perspective.
Just as I love to listen to covers of my favourite songs, I have a huge weakness for retellings of my favourite books. I’m especially fond of YA retellings of classics – perhaps because teen movie retellings like Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You were some of my favourites growing up?
If you like the idea of seeing your most loved classic novels remixed as modern retellings with all the characters reimagined as teenagers then a) you are not alone! and b) we have a reading list for you…
The Bookish Boyfriends series
by Tiffany Schmidt
This series is a dream for fans of YA contemporary classic retellings! Each book is a mash up of two different literary classics. As well as being charming coming-of-age stories that are perfect for younger YA readers, these books are also creative, funny, romantic and inspiring – and best of all, they’re brimming with an almost magical love and appreciation for classic literature.
Listen to Sarah McDuling and Shanu Prasad chat about Bookish Boyfriends on the Daily Booktopian!
A Date with Darcy
Merrilee Campbell, 16, thinks boys are better in books, chivalry is dead, and that there’d be nothing more romantic than having just one guy woo her like the heroes and heroines in classic stories. She’s about to get the chance to test these daydreams when she, her best friend, Eliza, and younger sister, Rory, transfer into Reginald R. Hero High … where all their fantasies come true, often with surprising consequences.
Buy it here
The Boy Next Story
There’s no one better than the boy next door. At least not according to Aurora Campbell, fourteen, who has been in love with Tobias May since their very first sandbox kiss. The problem is, he’s in love with her older sister, Merrilee. And Merri is already dating one of his best friends.
Rory is learning all about pining as her class reads The Great Gatsby, a book she doesn’t find “great” at all. Also not great—her GPA, something she needs to fix, quickly, if she’d like to apply for the chance to spend a week studying art with her hero in New York City over winter break. But when Ms. Gregoire assigns her to read Little Women for extra credit, Rory discovers more than she expected—both about herself and Toby. Maybe she wasn’t in love with the boy next door … but the boy next story.
Buy it here
Talk Nerdy to Me
Eliza Gordon-Fergus is an expert rule-follower. She has to be; her scientist parents dictate her day-to-day decisions, and forbid her from dating. Which is why she finds Curtis Cavendish maddening. He’s never punished for his class clown antics—and worse, his mischief actually masks brilliance. Like, give-Eliza-a-run-for-valedictorian brilliance.
When Eliza reads Frankenstein for English class, she’s left feeling more like an experiment than a daughter. Curtis agrees to trade her Anne of Green Gables under one condition: She has to beat him at the science fair. Eliza knows they’re supposed to be competing, but the more time they spend together, the more she realises she’s in over her head. Because one thing’s certain about Curtis: He makes Eliza want to break all the rules.
Buy it here
Pride (Pride and Prejudice)
by Ibi Zoboi
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood from becoming unrecognisable.
When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgemental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.
Buy it here
Anna K (Anna Karenina)
by Jenny Lee
Welcome to the dizzying heights of New York’s Upper East Side: where privilege, partying and scandal rules. And Anna K knows the rules by heart. Beautiful, rich and popular, she takes care to maintain her status as the perfect girlfriend, daughter and student.
Then a chance encounter at Grand Central station with notorious playboy Alexi ‘Count’ Vronsky changes everything. Anna knows she needs to avoid Alexi, but sometimes fate has other plans …
Buy it here
Olivia Twisted (Oliver Twist)
by Vivi Barnes
Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elites: break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv …
Buy it here
Every Breath (Sherlock Holmes)
by Ellie Marney
Rachel Watts has just moved to Melbourne from the country, but the city is the last place she wants to be.
James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old who’s also a genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. He’s even harder to resist when he’s up close and personal – and on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer.
Buy it here
Trouble is a Friend of Mine (Sherlock Holmes)
by Stephanie Tromly
Preparing to survive a typical day of being Digby’s friend wasn’t that different from preparing to survive the Apocalypse. When Digby first shows up on her doorstep, Zoe Webster is not impressed. He’s rude, he’s smart, and he doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. But before she knows it, Digby has dragged her into a series of hilarious and dangerous situations all related to an investigation into the kidnapping of a girl from their high school. A kidnapping that may be connected to the tragic disappearance of his own sister eight years ago.
Buy it here
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You (Much Ado About Nothing)
by Lily Anderson
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Dr. Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West – and his horrendous new moustache that he spent all summer growing – down to number four.
Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben’s, including give up sleep and comic books – well, maybe not comic books – but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it’s time to declare a champion once and for all.
Buy it here
Great (The Great Gatsby)
by Sara Benincasa
When Naomi Rye arrives in the Hamptons to spend the summer with her socialite mother, she fully expects to be miserable mingling with the sons and daughters of her mother’s mega-rich friends. Yet Naomi finds herself unexpectedly drawn to her mysterious and beautiful next-door neighbour, Jacinta, a Hamptons “It” girl who throws wild, lavish parties that are the talk of the town. But Jacinta is hiding something big, and events unfold with tragic consequences.
Buy it here
Love, Lucy (A Room With a View)
by April Lindner
While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food … and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her “vacation flirtation.” But just because summer is over doesn’t mean Lucy and Jesse have to be, does it?
Buy it here
Do you have any favourite YA retellings of classic novels? Tell us below!
About the Contributor
Sarah McDuling
Sarah McDuling is Booktopia's Category Manager for Children's and Young Adult Books. She has been in the bookselling game for almost a decade and a dedicated booklover since birth (potentially longer). At her happiest when reading a book, Sarah also enjoys talking/writing/tweeting about books. In her spare time, she often likes to buy a lot of books and take photographs of books. You can follow her on Twitter and Instragram @sarahmcduling
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