Only the most passionate of princess devotees will fall head-over-heels for this one.
A junior bridesmaid’s work is never done.
Eleven-year-old Claire has been dutifully hiding the fact that she is a cousin and fast friend to Belle, the commoner who is soon to wed the Prince of England. As the wedding date approaches, the secret is revealed, and Claire and her mother are whisked off to England so that Claire can fulfill her role as junior bridesmaid in the wedding. Once in London, Claire discovers that there is something fishy going on involving a fellow junior bridesmaid called Pandora—a young girl clearly infatuated with the Prince—and her great-aunt Cornelia. Cornelia may or may not be a witch who has cursed the Prince’s relationship with Belle. The text is peppered with letters between Claire and Belle and text conversations between Claire and her friend Evie from back home as well as her new London buddies. Claire is likable enough, and readers will enjoy making the inevitable connection between Belle and real-life Kate Middleton, but the relationship between too-perfect Belle and her much younger, much more ordinary cousin doesn’t ring true. Furthermore, the plot twists, such as they are, feel thin and forced, and the story limps along to a forgone conclusion.
Only the most passionate of princess devotees will fall head-over-heels for this one. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3920-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
SEEN & HEARD
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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