From Goodreads:
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....A mythic yet timely novel-in-verse by the beloved and prolific author and poet Jane Yolen, “the Hans Christian Andersen of America.”
Yolen reinvents the classic tale of Baba Yaga with a modern twist, and poetry. I loved the texture of words Yolen created, mixing soft with rough, kind with unkind. You could really get a sense of Tash's turmoil, her sense of self. Her character growth is well developed, from afraid and weak to strong and confident under the Baba's tutelage.
There are some wonderfully playful elements to this story, between Tash and Vasilisa, and even with Baba Yaga. Yolen plays with modern elements, like with Baba Yaga's upgraded house elements, but still keeps much of the traditional story, like Baba Yaga teaching the girls to fly with the mortar and pestle. All the fun, interesting bits of Baba Yaga lore are there for fans to see, but Yolen also does a good job of ushering a new generation of Baba Yaga enthusiasts into the story, giving time to explain some of the more traditional elements of Baba Yaga's story.
I really enjoyed this book, and once again, Yolen really hooked me into this modern fantasy world.
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