A Kiss in Time

A Kiss in Time
By Alex Flinn
HarperTeen, 2009. 371 pgs. Young Adult

Fifteen-year-old Princess Talia has been warned against spindles her entire life, but she cannot resist the curse placed on her at her christening and she pricks her finger and sends all of Euphrasia into a deep sleep. When American teenager Jack finds her and kisses her awake 300 years later, Talia convinces him to take her with him to Miami, hoping to make him fall in love with her and free her from the curse forever.

While I found the set up of Jack and Talia’s meeting a bit awkward, this story develops into a fun adaptation of Sleeping Beauty that encourages the pursuit of dreams and (somewhat surprisingly) the development of teen and parent relationships. Some of Flinn’s best novels address contemporary young adult issues and emotional growth and, for me, the strength of this work was Jack's character development and maturation.

MBC