Red Hood

Publication Date: February 25, 2020 by Balzer & Bray

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.

And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

Elana K. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power—and one girl’s journey to regain it.

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Reviews

  • “Arnold artfully spins a dark, magic-tinged “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling in which a young woman discovers the power that is her birthright… At once a sharp critique of male entitlement and a celebration of sisterhood and feminine power, this story will linger with readers long after the final page. “(Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review)

     

  • “In the wake of her Printz Honor–winning Damsel (2018), Arnold blazes a new and equally powerful trail through toxic masculinity by way of a fairy tale. This time it’s the mythology of “Little Red Riding Hood” that pulsates through the narrative, setting primal instincts loose in modern times, where wolves wear the clothes of men and the faces of teen boys. It is a book of blood, where menstruation empowers, predators bleed out, sisterhood is forged, and genetics bestow unasked for responsibilities. So read, shed your pelt, and be transformed—for blades are being sharpened.” (Booklist, Starred Review)

  • “A timely and unabashedly feminist twist on a classic fairy tale.” (Kirkus)

  • “A disturbing but ultimately empowering, and thoroughly immersive, feminist fairy tale.” (Horn Book Review, Starred Review)

     

  • “Deeply and darkly enticing, Red Hood isn’t a modern retelling so much as it is the story we should have had all along.” (Shelf Awareness, Starred Review)

     

  • “It’s unsettling how seamlessly Arnold incorporates dark fantasy elements of beastly wolves and cunning hunters into her all-too-realistic tale. A fantastic novel in the #MeToo era, empowering women to share their stories by reaching out, speaking up, and demanding a change.” (School Library Journal, Starred Review)

     

  • “I rarely ever write this, but in this case, I simply had no choice. With Red Hood, author Elana K. Arnold has accomplished something so important and powerful that I strongly believe everyone should read this book.”  (Locus Magazine)