A gender role reversal of the old fairy tale standard of defenceless princess put under evil spell until perfect, heroic prince kisses her and they live happily ever after. This time it’s the brave, adventurous girl rescuing the enspelled boy.
So yeah, it’s about time the girls get to have an adventure and do the rescuing and young readers get to realise that boys are just as fallible to the wiles of evil doers as girls have always been portrayed to be.
I think this one is good for all ages, and certainly a great way to begin further conversations with children about historical views of gender roles when this is compared to fairy tales from the patriarchy such as Sleeping Beauty etc..
Available in the anthology, Once Upon a Curse.
Christine’s page