Happy Thursday, friends! Today, I’m so excited to share that teatimelit has our first ever guest post — Kat, from The Bibliosmile (novelsandwaffles)! We’re huge fans of Kat here at teatimelit, and when she reached out for a guest post about retellings, you can only imagine our excitement! So without any further ado, here’s her guest post on diverse YA retellings!
It’s time to fess up:
I’m complete trash for YA retellings.
But you know what’s even better than YA retellings?
Diverse YA retellings!
Admit it: there’s nothing quite like diverse YA retellings with their fresh new takes on old, traditionally white classics.
From a Pride & Prejudice with Bengali-American rep ****to a Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai, these ground-breaking novels shake up and remix familiar stories you only thought you knew.
And they are chef’s kiss.
So keep scrolling to discover 20 new and upcoming diverse YA retellings that will make your TBR cry for help.
(Seriously—you won’t be able to stop yourself from smashing that “Want to Read” button.)
New Diverse YA Retellings Published in 2021
1. Darling by K. Ancrum
On Wendy Darling’s first night in Chicago, a boy called Peter appears at her window. He’s dizzying, captivating, beautiful—so she agrees to join him for a night on the town.
Wendy thinks they’re heading to a party, but instead they’re soon running in the city’s underground. She makes friends—a punk girl named Tinkerbelle and the lost boys Peter watches over. And she makes enemies—the terrifying Detective Hook, and maybe Peter himself, as his sinister secrets start coming to light. Can Wendy find the courage to survive this night—and make sure everyone else does, too?
Links for Darling: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
2. A Clash of Steel by C.B. Lee
Treasure Island Retelling
1826. Xiang’s father is only a story, dead at sea long before she was born. Her single memento of him is a pendant she always wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewelry.
But the pendant’s true nature is revealed when a mysterious girl named Anh steals it, only to return it to Xiang in exchange for her help in decoding the tiny map scroll hidden inside. The revelation that Xiang’s father sailed with an infamous group of pirates called the Dragon Fleet changes everything. Rumor has it that the legendary Head of the Dragon had one last treasure—the plunder of a thousand ports—that for decades has only been a myth, a fool’s journey.
Xiang is convinced this map could lead to the fabled treasure. Captivated with the thrill of adventure, she joins Anh and her motley crew off in pursuit of the island. But the girls soon find that the sea—and especially those who sail it—are far more dangerous than the legends led them to believe.
Links for Clash of Steel: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
3. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
Jane Eyre Retelling
Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.
Links for Within These Wicked Walls: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
4. Of Princes and Promises by Sandhya Menon
The Frog Prince Retelling
St. Rosetta’s Academy #2
Rahul Chopra knows that moment he shared with the popular Caterina LaValle at the winter formal meant something. Surely she feels it, too. He’s a little uncertain how someone like him (socially inept to a point way past “adorkable”) could fit into her ritzy world, but he’s loved Caterina for years. He knows they’ll find a way.
When Caterina finds out her ex-boyfriend is taking a supermodel to the upcoming gala, she knows she cannot arrive without the perfect date. But the thought of taking another superficial St. R’s boy exhausts her. The solution? Sweet-but-clueless Rahul Chopra and a mysterious pot of hair gel with the power to alter the wearer into whatever his heart desires.
When Rahul tries it, he transforms instantly into RC—debonair, handsome, and charming. But transformation comes with a price: As Rahul enjoys his new social standing, the line between his two personas begins to blur. Will he give up everything, including Caterina, to remain RC? Or will this unlikely pair find their way back to each other?
Links for Of Princes and Promises: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
5. Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass
Persuasion Retelling
Seventeen-year-old Reyna has spent most of her life at her family’s gorgeous seaside resort in Tobago, the Plumeria. But what once seemed like paradise is starting to feel more like purgatory. It’s been two years since Reyna’s mother passed away, two years since Aiden – her childhood best friend, first kiss, first love, first everything – left the island to pursue his music dreams. Reyna’s friends are all planning their futures and heading abroad. Even Daddy seems to want to move on, leaving her to try to keep the Plumeria running.
And that’s when Aiden comes roaring back into her life – as a VIP guest at the resort.
Aiden is now one-third of DJ Bacchanal – the latest, hottest music group on the scene. While Reyna has stayed exactly where he left her, Aiden has returned to Tobago with his Grammy-nominated band and two gorgeous LA socialites. And he may (or may not be) dating one of them…
Links for Where the Rhythm Takes You: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
6. Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
Romeo and Juliet Retelling
These Violent Ends #2
The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.
After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.
Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other
Links for Our Violent Ends: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
7. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow
Little Women Retelling
North Carolina, 1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black people have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the old life. It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters:
Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own.
Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained.
Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose.
Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family’s home.
As the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women, they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons. But they will face it all together.
Links for So Many Beginnings: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
8. Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
The Wild Swans Retelling
Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.
Only Shiori can break the Raikama’s curse, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.
Links for Six Crimson Cranes: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
9. This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
The Secret Garden Retelling
Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.
When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.
There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.
Links for This Poison Heart: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
10. That Way Madness Lies Edited by Dahlia Adler
Various Shakespeare Retellings
Fifteen acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics!
West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings!
Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (All’s Well That Ends Well), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).
Links for That Way Madness Lies: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
11. The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
Beauty & the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White Crossover Retelling
After the mysterious death of their best friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of their elite school, Grimrose Académie. The police ruled it a suicide, but the trio are determined to find out what really happened.
When Nani Eszes arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events they couldn’t have imagined. As the girls retrace their friend’s last steps, they uncover dark secrets about themselves and their destinies, discovering they’re all cursed to repeat the brutal and gruesome endings to their stories until they can break the cycle.
This contemporary take on classic fairytales reimagines heroines as friends attending the same school. While investigating the murder of their best friend, they uncover connections to their ancient fairytale curses and attempt to forge their own fate before it’s too late.
Links for The Grimrose Girls: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
12. These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy
Firebird Retelling
When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm.
But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned.
As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.
Links for These Feathered Flames: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Upcoming Diverse YA Retellings Scheduled for Publication in 2022
13. The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder
Sleeping Beauty Retelling
Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.
Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi–until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
Links for The Bone Spindle: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
14. Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta
Pride & Prejudice Retelling
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Leela Bose plays to win.
A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile. But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can’t stand him. Unfortunately, he’ll be competing in the state league, so their paths are set to collide.
But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated, though, and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically misjudged the debaters — including Firoze Darcy — and more than just her own winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too.
Links for Debating Darcy: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
15. Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi
Robin Hood Retelling
Jerusalem, 1192. The Third Crusade rages on. Rahma al-Hud loyally followed her elder sister Zeena into the war over the Holy Land, but now that the Faranji invaders have gotten reinforcements from Richard the Lionheart, all she wants to do is get herself and her sister home alive.
But Zeena, a soldier of honor at heart, refuses to give up the fight while Jerusalem remains in danger of falling back into the hands of the false Queen Isabella. And so, Rahma has no choice but to take on one final mission with her sister.
But their travels soon bring them into the orbit of Queen Isabella herself, whose plans to re-seize power in Jerusalem would only guarantee further war and strife in the Holy Land for years to come. And so it falls to Rahma and her merry band of misfits to use every scrap of cunning and wit (and not a small amount of thievery) to foil the usurper queen and perhaps finally restore peace to the land.
Links for Travelers Along the Way: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
16. Out of the Blue by Jason June
Splash Retelling
A LGBTQ reimagining of Splash, featuring a mer teen who comes on land for the first time and meets a human lifeguard.
Links for Out of the Blue: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph
17. One for All by Lillie Lainoff
The Three Musketeers Retelling
Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl.” But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion. Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for new Musketeers: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a sword fight.
With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels that she has a purpose, that she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming—and might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.*
Links for One For All: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
18. Beauty and the Besharam by Lillie Vale
Beauty and the Beast Retelling
Seventeen-year-old, high-achieving Kavya Joshi has always been told she’s a little too ambitious, a little too mouthy, and overall just a little too much. Her big, extended, overly involved family has one word to sum her up: besharam.
When her nemesis, Ian Jun, witnesses her very public breakup with her loser boyfriend on the last day of junior year, Kavya wants to lay low and spend the summer at her great escape–her part-time job at Poppy’s Party Playhouse, dressing up as a princess for kids’ birthday parties. But her plan is shot when she’s cast as Ariel and learns that Ian will be her Prince Eric for the summer. [Cue the sarcastic banter.]
Links for Beauty and the Besharam: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | IndieBound
19. Epically Earnest by Molly Horan
The Importance of Being Earnest Retelling
In this delightfully romantic LGBTQ+ comedy-of-errors inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a high school senior works up the courage to ask her long-time crush to prom all while deciding if she should look for her bio family.
Links for Epically Earnest: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph
20. What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri
Wuthering Heights Retelling
*As the abandoned son of a Lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an “outsider.” Now he’s been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors, where he clings to his birth father’s language even though it makes the children of the house call him an animal, and the maids claim he speaks gibberish.
Catherine is the younger child of the estate’s owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about. Her father is grooming her for a place in proper society, and that’s all that matters. Catherine knows she must mold herself into someone pretty and good and marriageable, even though it might destroy her spirit.
As they occasionally flee into the moors to escape judgment and share the half-remembered language of their unknown kin, Catherine and Heathcliff come to find solace in each other. Deep down in their souls, they can feel they are the same.
But when Catherine’s father dies and the household’s treatment of Heathcliff only grows more cruel, their relationship becomes strained and threatens to unravel. For how can they ever be together, when loving each other—and indeed, loving themselves—is as good as throwing themselves into poverty and death?*
Links for What Souls Are Made Of: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph
Have You Read Any of These Diverse YA Retellings?
A sapphic, gender-swapped Sleeping Beauty. A Persuasion-inspired second-chance romance set in Tobago. A Jane Eyre where Jane is actually an exorcist. These diverse YA retellings are not messing around! 
Say goodbye to crusty old SparkNotes and hello to these 20 refreshingly diverse YA retellings that will have you looking at your assigned summer reading in a whole new light.
Now over to you:
In the comments, share one diverse YA retelling from this list that you’ve already read and one that you just added to your TBR!
Kat is a certified Content Marketing strategist and the award-winning blogger behind The Bibliosmile. She loves to connect overwhelmed readers with YA books that will make them smile. Kat has been known to mysteriously appear by chanting “The friends-to-lovers trope is far superior to the enemies-to-lovers trope” ten times under the full moon. When she isn’t busy reading, you can find her haunting Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.
Thank you all so much for having me on your blog! I had such a fun time writing this post! Also, I’m your first ever guest poster? I had no idea! I feel so honored!
That GIF is totally me
Can’t wait to read some of these!
I’m so glad to hear that I’m not the only one who loves YA retellings!