There are expected tropes associated with the traditional fairy tale: heroes come in the form of strong, dashing young men; stepmothers are the epitome of evil; and young women only exist to be beautiful, but inept damsels who must always be rescued from great peril. Barry Deutsch’s two-part Hereville series is not the traditional fairy tale. While it certainly boasts its fair share of witches, trolls, anthropomorphic pigs and meteorites, and a protagonist who dreams of slaying dragons, said protagonist is an eleven-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl named Mirka. Deutsch does not just lazily attribute stereotypically masculine characteristics to his heroine and label it feminism. The strength of women is explored in a variety of ways, and feminine traits are not dismissed as weak.
