THE RUBY PRINCESS RUNS AWAY

A princess tries to run from her responsibilities.

It’s time for the big ceremony when Roxanne will be crowned as a Jewel Princess—she’ll be the Ruby Princess while her royal cousins each have their own jewel theme—and sent to reign in the Red Mountains. But she’s overwhelmed by the responsibility, prefers pants to dresses, and considers herself “a regular girl” who likes active, outdoor activities, so, she runs away. But the Dreadlings who serve Lord Bleak of Castle Dread lurk in the Mysterious Forest. Roxanne has a near miss with them before befriending a dragon and a pair of distressed gnomes from the Red Mountains (her soon-to-be-subjects). From them, Roxanne learns that an imposter is headed to the coronation. Roxanne divvies up her resources to get the gnomes to safety and to make her way back to the palace herself to stop Lord Bleak’s fake princess from being crowned. She arrives just in time to take her true place and capture the imposter. Though Roxanne is heroic and becomes confident in her leadership abilities, the princess-versus-tomboy dichotomy is a little tired and also muddled in execution. Roxanne has light-brown skin while her fellow Jewel Princesses (whose own star turns publish simultaneously) include a white girl, a black girl, and another girl of color; the kingdom’s most important wizard is dark skinned.

This princess book has a meaty plot and themes, but their execution is uneven.