The Plague by Joanne Dahme

Fifteen year-old Nell is the spitting image of Princess Joan. With her parents dead of plague, Nell takes the job of royal body double to feed herself and her younger brother, George. And for a while, everything seems wonderful. The princess is kind, Nell learns how to read, George is happy. And then, on a trip to marry Princess Joan to the prince of Spain, everything goes horribly wrong. Add in an evil Prince, the plague, a crime, and an army of unholy rats and poor Nell and her brother are in for a terrible journey home.

This book was certainly interesting at the story's start. Real world historical events are twisted and warped with sorcery to make a nasty villain. While reading, I did find myself wishing that the author had chosen to make such and such happen or that parts of the story were changed. The beginning of the book is really interesting and effectively captivates the reader but then, it falls flat. My attention wavered and in a book with just over 250 pages, this is not a good thing. Sometimes, I even lost what was happening in the story. I was saying "Wait...when did THAT happen?!"a lot. I did finish the book and the ending was hugely unsatisfying for me. I felt a little bit irritated that after 200 pages, nothing happened.

As I said, the beginning was really interesting; the book started with a great idea and I think this book could have been fascinating but as it was, it was not a book I was really glad I had read.

Nevertheless, if this book sounds interesting, consider these: The Magic and the Healing or Bewitching Season.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

You know you've got your hands on a great book when you just mean to read the first page at the library and end up cross-legged in the stacks, intent on finishing it. This is one of those can't-put-it-down kind of books.

Keturah is the village beauty and a great storyteller. One day she follows a magical hart into the forest. She gets lost for three days. She is supposed to die. When Lord Death meets the lovely girl, however, he finds himself making a bargain with her. She may keep her life if she finds her one true love within the time allowed.

This is a romance, no way around it. And generally, I'm not super crazy about romances. But this book is engrossing. Keturah is interesting to follow and the character of Lord Death is mysterious and alluring. The story is full of fantasy, character interaction and displays the fears of dying any fifteen year old girl likely possess. Additionally, the story is not long by any means; at barely 200 pages most readers can finish the book in an afternoon. Of course, most readers will know what the ending is within the first twenty pages, but I found that knowing this made the story no less enjoyable to me.

If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Ella Enchanted, The Fairy Godmother or Magic Under Glass.

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Johnny works at a shoe repair shop in an upscale Florida hotel, where he knows all of the staff and is best friends with Meg, who works at the hotel's cafe. He works as many hours as possible to help his mom pay the bills but his fondest wish is that he could have enough money to create the shoes that he designs in his spare time. When he catches the attention of an idiosyncratic princess staying at the hotel, he agrees to help her, even though has no idea that he'll end up on a fairy-tale adventure, complete with talking animals, magical objects, and quest-like tasks - not to mention witches and plenty of danger. Assuming that Johnny can keep his promise (and survive to tell about it), he just might discover things about his life and himself.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. The characters are well-developed and the plot takes a couple of interesting twists even though parts of it are easy to predict - particularly for fans of fairy tale re-tellings. Despite that, this book actually draws on a wide range of fairy tale traditions (including quite a few lesser-known stories that I was unfamiliar with) and weaves them all together into an almost-believable modern-day story. This is definitely a book to pick up if you're looking for something fun, a little off the norm, or if you love reading re-tellings of fairy tales.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: The Dragon Princess, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, or The Prophecy

The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw

Saaski is a changeling. Her adopted human parents, Anwara and Yanno love her but find her (as most of the village does) a little bit odd. Saaski's appearance is unusual, she does not act as a human child should and she has a love for the wild lands of the moor above the sleepy village; a place described by villagers as filled with "eldritch" happenings and mischief.

Tormented daily by the other village children and feeling just as "freaky-odd" as they call her, Saaski belongs neither with the human villagers or with the elves that swapped her for Anwara's true human child. As the story progresses, Saaski struggles to find some measure of peace with her human family. When a traveling tinkerer and his young ward stumble into town, Saaski begins to discover who she truly is and where she came from.

I love this book and believe all young readers should give it a try. It is one of the few books that I have had to purchase because I reread and reread this story. This is a story about a young girl who feels very alone in a world that she finds incredibly dull. I was emotionally vested in this story and even found some parts of this story hard to read as McGraw describes the terrible injustices done to Saaski through fear of the unknown. This book is at times, heartwarming and at others, heartbreaking but always enthralling. The story is heavily steeped in Irish folklore about fairies and changelings for the reader interested in European mythology.

The Moorchild was awarded the Newbery Honor in 1997.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

When a royal messenger unexpectedly arrives in fourteen-year-old Miri’s isolated mountain village and announces that the nation’s crown prince will marry one of the village girls, a “princess academy” is established outside the village to train every possible future princess—even though the mountain peopleare frequently thought of as uneducated and generally not as cultured as “lowlanders.” Attendance is mandatory for all girls of marrying age and at the end of the year, the prince himself will come to the academy to choose his wife.

For Miri, a delicate girl who has never been permitted to work in the stone quarry that provides the town with its yearly income, this is a chance make her father proud. At the academy, Miri makes new friends and together, the girls weather the hardships of prejudice and feelings of isolation.

Give me a book by Shannon Hale and I’ll devour it cover to cover. As expected, I really enjoyed this story. While you will not find as many magical or fantastic elements in Princess Academy the story is engaging and the reader will easily find herself empathizing with Miri and her classmates.

I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy a strong female lead or stories about oppressed peoples gaining respect in society. Though Princess Academy is based in a rugged, cold mountain setting, Hale has created a world that left me wanting to discover more about the cultures and people she has imagined.

Princess Academy has earned several awards including a 2006 Newberry Honor Award.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Hallandren and Idris are two countries on the brink of war. As a means of promoting peace, young princess Siri is sent to marry the God King who rules Hallandren. Siri must learn to deal with the radical change in belief and culture as her people eschew the magic used by Hallandrens. Her sister Vivenna (previously betrothed to the God King) has to come to terms with her own purpose in life and becomes entangled in politics as she attempts to work for the good of the Idrian people. Meanwhile, other characters are caught up in the social and political maneuverings including Lightsong, one of the reborn gods that live in T'Telir, and Vasher, a mysterious figure who carries a bloodthirsty, sentient sword (Nightblood) and who wields magical Breath in his own pursuits. With hostilities becoming more and more of a potential reality, all of the characters will have to find a way to save those they love.


I thought this book started a little slowly, but once I got into the story, it was very interesting. The concept and world-building in this story are certainly novel and well-done and the characters are all well-developed also. The plot is fairly complex and includes quite a bit of political intrigue and secrets, for readers who enjoy that kind of storyline. The ending does a great job of wrapping up all of the salient points, although I was curious about what happens to some of the characters afterwards (so far as I know, this book is a stand-alone without sequels). I would recommend this to fantasy readers who are looking for something with a lot of depth and development rather than a quick, fluffy read, or who enjoy books with a lot of characters and complexity.

• If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Abhorsen Trilogy, Lady in Gil, The Soprano Sorceress, or Spirit Fox