Melissa Kantor. IF I HAVE A WICKED STEPMOTHER, WHERE'S MY PRINCE?

Lucy Norton has several similarities to Cinderella. Her mother died and her father remarried to a woman with two daughters. To make matters worse, her father travels for work every week, so Lucy is left alone with the step mother & sisters, who are awful to her. Seriously, her stepmom makes her serve food and clean up after them. Her life takes a positive spin when she meets and starts dating the “prince” of the school. But, as Lucy to gets to know him, she begins to suspect if he is indeed the prince for her. I couldn’t put this one down. It was laugh out loud funny, romantic and sweet.

Mette Ivie Harrison. THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND

Prince George is being groomed to become King. But he has a secret. It’s a secret he shared with his mother, but now she is gone and he has no one to understand him. He has animal magic, which means he communicates with animals. However, his kingdom punishes those with this magic. They think it’s evil. His father has arranged a marriage to the Princess of the nearby rival kingdom in hopes of joining the kingdoms. When George meets Princess Beatrice, he is intrigued by her unique relationship with her hound. Could she have animal magic too? The Princess is indifferent and cold towards him. George wonders if they will ever be able to have the kind of marriage his parents had. And will he ever be able to fully appreciate his animal magic and see it as the gift it truly is?
This was quite a moving novel. Fortunately, it lived up to all the hype I’ve been hearing about it. If you relate to the bonds people form with animals, you will really enjoy it. If you don’t, probably not so much. I personally loved it!

Meg Cabot. VALENTINE PRINCESS.

Valentine Princess is one among many in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. In this installment, Mia finds a diary from a few years back. It was written during her first year of dating her boyfriend, Michael. It was right before Valentine's Day and Mia is worried because it's her first one with an “actual” Valentine, but Michael is opposed to commercialized holidays. She finally gets advice from an unlikely source, her mother. Will Michael finally come around and enjoy the holiday? This is a nice little treat for anytime of year. Enjoy this one or any of the many books in the Princess Diaries series.

PRINCESS FROM ANOTHER PLANET, DEAD GIRLS DON'T WRITE LETTERS, THE EMPTY MIRROR

Mindy Schanback. PRINCESS FROM ANOTHER PLANET

This is certainly not your ordinary “princess” book. Gracie’s mom is the queen of another planet. Or at least that’s what she says. No one believes her- they only pretend to. All of a sudden Gracie’s mom is getting signals from outerspace about some enemies that have landed on Earth to kill her and her family. Will everyone finally believe her that she is a Queen from another planet? Will Gracie finally accept her true identity? This was fun and different.











Gail Giles. DEAD GIRLS DON’T WRITE LETTERS

If you're looking for something different, this one's for you. After Sunny's sister has been dead for about 6 months, she gets a letter in the mail from her sister, Jazz. Guess what? She isn’t really dead. Jazz shows up at their house a few days later. But there's something about her that doesn't feel right. Is it really Jazz, someone else, or something else all together? Intriguing book. Please come see me after you read it, so we can talk about the ending.




James Lincoln Collier. THE EMPTY MIRROR

Wow, this was a different kind of book. Nick has some unusual dreams in the beginning and feels as though he’s lost something. Then later, while at the pond with his friend, they notice that he no longer has a reflection! Then when crimes start being committed in town, people blame Nick. They swear that they’ve seen him in all these locations where the crimes were committed. But Nick knows he clearly was not at any of those places. Unless he’s going crazy? He isn’t sure. This is quick read, because you won’t put it down until the mystery is solved. At least, I couldn’t.

SEA OF MONSTERS, PRINCESS ACADEMY

Rick Riordan. THE SEA OF MONSTERS

The sequel to THE LIGHTNING THIEF was equally as awesome as its predecessor. I had forgotten how funny the author was. At the beginning of the book, the half-blood camp is in danger. The borders are no longer protected because someone has poisoned Thalia’s tree. The campers must continually fight off monster attacks. Percy discovers he has an unexpected relative, the new quest he must go on involves saving his best friend Grover, as well as saving the camp and perhaps Mount Olympus itself. This was a jam-packed adventure story that also cracked me up!



Shannon Hale. PRINCESS ACADEMY

This is not in any way the "fluffy" book that the title would seem to indicate. This is a wonderful adventure of a small mountain town and its young girls. One day the prince, who lives down in the main town, says that he will choose his princess from the mountain town of Mount Eskel. The main character, feisty 14-year-old Miri, along with all of the other teenage girls must go the Princess Academy to learn what it takes to become a princess & to get ready for a ball where the prince will choose his bride. The girls are schooled by a mean headmistress who severely punishes them. There is a little danger and some magic too. This was a wonderful, highly satisfying book. It completely deserved the Newbery Honor it received.