The Wide-Awake Princess

Baker, E.D. The Wide-Awake Princess
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 261p 16.99
978-1-59990-487-0 ms Fairytale VG-BN

“ Annie, younger sister of the princess who would be known as Sleeping Beauty, is immune to magic and stays awake when the rest of the castle falls into an enchanted sleep, then sets out to find a way to break the spell.”
Written for middle school or very upper elementary readers readers, The Wide Awake Princess will be a welcome addition to a library’s collection. Fans of the author and of the “The Frog Princess” will be delighted to read this version of Sleeping Beauty, but told from the point of Princess Annabelle (Annie), the younger sister who is not sleeping. In this title, older sister Princess Gwendolyn (Gwen) get her hands on a spinning wheel and pricks her finger on her 16th birthday and the kingdom sleeps for the 100 years curse and that is set into motion. The entire castle is put to sleep except for Annie, since a fairy gave her a blessing and made her immune to any magic and any magic that shall touch her would not bring her any harm. Since Annie was the only one in the castle who was awake and not affected by the curse, she embarks on a search for her sister’s true love and to ultimately end the 100 years old curse. Annie’s mission was to find Gwen’s true love, she sends every prince she meets to the castle in order to locate her true prince. Even though Annie is searching for Gwen’s prince, she begins to have a crush on her bodyguard companion, Liam. Readers will enjoy reading of Annie’s encounters with Hansel and Gretel, dancing fairies, Rapunzel, and others. Filled with adventure happy endings, and some romance, readers will wonder if both Princess Gwen and Princess Annie will marry their true love.
Would make a great addition to a library’s collection for middle and upper elementary schools. Forba-Mayer(2)Charleen
Fairy tales.

The Dragon Princess.

Baker, E.D. The Dragon Princess.
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2008 218p 16.99 978-1-59990-194-7 elem

Although a princess, Millie cannot keep herself from turning unexpectedly into a dragon, so she ventures off to the Frozen North to find the Blue Witch, who she hopes will help her learn to control her dragon magic. Talk about anger management issues....Princess Millie has a serious problem. Just as Bruce Banner morphed into the Incredible Hulk when he would experience strong emotions such as anger, Millie morphs into a dragon whenever she gets angry. This tends to scare off potential boyfriends and alienates girlfriends. On the other side of the coin, it comes in handy when needing to rescue friends from a certain death and being able to sense the presence of magic is an added bonus. Nonetheless, being an uncontrollable dragon is a drag for Millie, so she journeys to the faraway Frozen North with her cousin and a vampire bat to find the one person whom she thinks can help her exert some control over her transformation. The Blue Witch may have the magic to help her, but first Millie must find a way around the abominable snowmen who guard the Blue Witch. Her bravery makes for a happy ending. Millie is a fun character that is attractive to young readers, and the humor makes this a good introduction to the fantasy genre for middle readers. Although this is the sixth in The Tales of the Frog Princess series, it is unnecessary to be familiar with previous books to enjoy this one. R. Zajko