Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Princess of the Midnight Ball

PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL: Jessica Day George: Bloomsbury: Young Adult: 280 pages

In a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the King of Westfalia’s daughters must dance at the Midnight Ball every night to pay their mother’s debt to a wicked sorcerer, but the princesses are forbidden to speak of the curse, and their father offers a reward to any prince able to solve the mystery of the girls’ nightly disappearance. It is only Galen, though, a gardener in the court with a skill for knitting, who is able to discover the girls’ secret and free them from the sorcerer’s enchantment.

This is a lovely story from the author of another retelling, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, and will be thoroughly enjoyed by fans of Shannon Hale and Mette Harrison.

MBC

1 comment:

ALC said...

This is a great story that is appropriate for all ages. I would feel comfortable reading it to my 4th grader or 7th grader. It is a clean read. The plot definitely overshadows the romance. However, that is intended and is a refreshing change from teenagers having relationships that are too adult for their age. The teenage characters in the novel are not simplistic either. I enjoyed this spin on a familiar fairy tale.