Passaic Public Library discussion

The Big Library Read E-Book Club Selection #1

Summary:The last mortal kingdom before the unmeasured sweep of Faerieland begins has at best held an uneasy truce with its unpredictable neighbor. There is nothing to show a boundary, at least on the mortal side of it; and if any ordinary human creature ever saw a faerie—or at any rate recognized one—it was never mentioned; but the existence of the boundary and of faeries beyond it is never in doubt either. So begins “The Stolen Princess,” the first story of this collection, about the meeting between the human princess Linadel and the faerie prince Donathor. “The Princess and the Frog” concerns Rana and her unexpected alliance with a small, green, flipper-footed denizen of a pond in the palace gardens. “The Hunting of the Hind” tells of a princess who has bewitched her beloved brother, hoping to beg some magic of cure, for her brother is dying, and the last tale is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses in which an old soldier discovers, with a little help from a lavender-eyed witch, the surprising truth about where the princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night.

Discussion Questions
Please feel free to respond to one, all, or some of the below questions! Questions provided by The Big Library Read.

Or if you prefer, simply add your review of the novel.

1. What do you think McKinley’s fairy tales talk about?

2. McKinley has been described as being “afraid neither of great beauty nor of great evil...” how do you think this applies to The Door in the Hedge?

3. How does McKinley treat the classic stereotypes of fairy tales?

4. How is McKinley’s depiction of good and evil represented in The Door in the Hedge?

5. What is the significance of the title? Would you have chosen a different title for this collection? Why or why not?

6. What was the most pivotal scene in each of the stories? How do you think the stories would have been different if those scenes were not included?

7. How important is the setting and time period in The Twelve Dancing Princesses?

8. Although the stories are fairy tales, were there any identifiable racial, cultural, traditions, gender, sexuality or socioeconomic factors at play in the book? If so,what? How did it affect the characters?

Do you think they were realistically portrayed?

9. Discuss how each of the characters has changed by the end of the book?

10. Are there any books that you would compare this one to? How does this book hold up to them?

11. Have you read any other books by this author? Were they comparable to your level of enjoyment to this one?

12. What did you learn from, take away from, or get out of this book?

13. Did your opinion of the book change as you read it? How?

14. In “The Princess and the Frog” and “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” what similarities and differences are shown between their re-tellings and the originals (“The Frog Prince” and “Twelve Dancing Princesses,” respectively)?

15. Fairytales often teach valuable lessons. What lessons do the characters in each short story learn?

16. What traditional elements of fairytales do you find in McKinley’s original stories, “The Hunting of the Hind” and “The Stolen Princess?” (Examples: set in the past, happy endings, magical elements, etc.)

17. What do you think the faeries in “The Stolen Princess” did with the little boy they took in the Prologue?

18. What is the importance of the blue flowers in “The Stolen Princess?”

19. In “The Stolen Princess,” Lindal looks to leave Faerieland and Donathor wants to accompany her. Saying goodbye to his parents, it appears he will not be able to go back through the hedge. Why can’t he travel between both worlds if his people are able to take people from the human world?