Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen and JANE YOLEN

Finding Baba Yaga is a mythic yet timely novel-in-verse by the beloved and prolific New York Times bestselling author and poet Jane Yolen, “the Hans Christian Andersen of America” (Newsweek). A young woman discovers the power to speak up and take control of her fate—a theme that has never been more timely than it is now... You think you know this story. You do not. A harsh, controlling father. A quiescent mother. A house that feels like anything but a home. Natasha gathers the strength to leave, and comes upon a little house in the wood: A house that walks about on chicken feet and is inhabited by a fairy tale witch. In finding Baba Yaga, Natasha finds her voice, her power, herself.... "Jane Yolen is a phenomenon: a poet and a mythmaker, who understands how old stories can tell us new things. We are lucky to have her."—Neil Gaiman At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Nice and short, just maybe not something I'll remember in a few days? I had a good time, though. Baba Yaga's always great, always fun.

Says: Telling the future is dead easy, girl,easier when you're already dead inside.
Excerpt from Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yollen

This is an incredible idea, but not one that you can easily plow through. It needs to be savored like a fine wine or cheese. Taste each stanza, mull over each word, contemplate Yollen's direction for the story for each word is soaked in meaning and brimming with the narrative.

When I first started reading this story, I honestly did not know what to expect. I don't know much about the legend of Baba Yaga. I still don't really feel like I do. But, I think I have a deeper sense of the legends meaning and what Baba Yaga means for Russian mythology and legend.

I step onto the path,knowing it is but the beginning,one foot, then the other,till I gleam silver all over,in the moonlight.
Excerpt from Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yollen

The overarching themes of the story are very direct and present. In the beginning, we have the controlling father and the harshness of a house that is not a home. Later we have the escape, starvation, and running to the forest to find freedom. The teenage girl finds the house with the chicken legs and begins to live with Baba Yaga, learning all of her magic. With this independence, the girl learns to trust and confidence in herself and who she is inside. I think this is an important thing to take away from this book. The girl finds freedom in her independence and confidence, coming from a broken home some readers can empathize with that. It is empowering and beautiful. But don't believe me, go read it for yourself because that is the miracle and beauty of the prose. What it means to me can be entirely different for another reader. Neither of us is wrong nor right, we can just sit back and sit in awe and Jane Yollen's gorgeously crafted words.

I've always loved the story of Baba Yaga, and I never seem to tire of stories told in verse, a storytelling-through-poetry method that works beautifully for whimsical, dark fairytales like this one. Something unique to Finding Baba Yaga, however, is the modern spin Yolen puts on it; while you know that it takes place in modern times, it's easy to forget when Natasha is in Baba Yaga's house of magic and mysteries.

This is a taleboth old and new,borrowed, narrowed,broadened, deepened.

Baba Yaga prefers them bright, asking questions,challenging her, turning their backs.She likes the ones who stick out their tongues,laugh at death threats, use foul language, never beg.

Content warnings

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to TorDotCom for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!