The ten best bad fairies

The 13 Treasures, Michelle Harrison's first novel for children, won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and has been sold in the UK, USA and fourteen other countries.

Its sequel, The 13 Curses was published in January 2010, and was followed by a third book, The 13 Secrets, in February 2011.

For the Guardian, Harrison came up with a ten best list of bad fairies--fairies "that were deceitful, malicious – even deadly."

One title on the list:

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's witty and charming play tells of four young lovers who blunder into the crossfire of the warring fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania. With the mischievous Puck administering love potions galore, the humans' lives and emotions are manipulated beyond their control. Though the play ends well for all, for me there's a sense of unease surrounding one of the couples, whose love is manufactured by the fairies rather than genuine. The version with Arthur Rackham's gorgeous illustrations is my favourite.

Read about the other titles on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue