Cinder

By Marissa Meyer
Lexile = 790

File this one under "I can't believe that I haven't read this before". However, I must be forgiven since my goal here is to help readers find UNEXPECTED treasures. I think Cinder has pretty much been found by everyone already. Another oops with this title... I had it in the FANTASY section of the library, when it is clearly a science fiction/dystopian novel. Amazing what happens when one actually reads the book!

Cinder is a cyborg: half human and lots of machinery. She is considered a burden to her step mother and is mistreated by most people in her life. (do I need to mention that this is a Cinderella retelling?) In an effort to get rid of Cinder, her step mother "volunteers" her for research to cure a plague. Cinder certainly won't survive the research. Meanwhile, there is a handsome prince and a ball, and you know the rest. But maybe you don't!

Meyer has done a terrific job of twisting an old tale and giving it a futuristic setting. It is so fun to recoginze details of the fairy tale that are dropped throughout the novel. And this is just #1 of the series! More fairy tales follow! And I bet this is eventually made into a movie.