Ella Enchanted

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We are traipsing through the land of Kyria this week on our unnecessarily teeny tiny feet as we revisit Gail Carson Levine's Newbery Honor book Ella Enchanted. Poor Ella of Frell has been cursed with the "gift" of obedience in this reimagining of the Cinderella story. We try to decipher the moral of the story, debate the rules and regulations of "small magic," and rue that Ella is really lacking in wokeness. Teresa laments the Shrekification of Ella Enchanted in the movie adaptation of the book, and we explore the not-like-other-girls trope, which leads to a startling not-like-other-girls declaration from Marisa.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit out blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here's a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Gail Carson Levine talks to Cynthia Leitich Smith: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit-resources/read/authors/interviews/gailcarsonlevine/

Issues in adaptation: https://screenrant.com/ella-enchanted-film-book-comparison/

Fairytale retellings: https://bookriot.com/fairytale-retellings/