Common Sense Note
Parents should know that in this fairytale from the author of Ella Enchanted, the heroine, Aza, is refreshingly less attractive than your average protagonist and suffers from quite a bit of self-doubt because of it. Aza is tricked and imprisoned in a dungeon where she is tied up with a gag in her mouth. When she escapes there is the threat of being killed by a guard or eaten by an ogre. There are also mild love exchanges between Aza and a prince, which includes some kissing.
Families who read this book can talk about why Aza is a good and kind person worth rooting for. Is it because she grows up in a house of love and respect? Can you relate to Aza's feelings about herself and how others judge her? How did it feel as a reader to hear Aza's description of herself as a "blemish" or others calling her an "ogre"? Does this make you feel differently about first impressions and judging others?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Pam Gelman
Gail Carson Levine has mastered the art of twisting fantasy and creating interesting characters that are likeable and somehow relatable to today's kids. Aza is smart, competent, and gifted in song, a highly honored and valuable means of communication in this society. She can also illuse, a method of throwing your voice to make it appear that someone else is singing. This skill becomes the tool for the newly married, beautiful young queen to win the hearts of the kingdom.
And so follows a story with adventure, love, and fantasy with a common thread to the tale of Sleeping Beauty, and a lesson about recognizing what true beauty is. This is an appropriate read for kids ages 10+ who enjoy fantasy and strong moral outcomes.
From The Book
Over the course of the week I wrote my song, taking extra care, eager to strike the right note. When the song was written, I went though my new gowns and chose a dusty pink one with a low loose waist and a pale-pink V-shaped collar. I was brave and looked at myself in the mirror.
Ugly.
Can a dragon judge ostumo?
I blinked in astonishment, realizing for the first time that I was as hard on myself as my worst critics. Sir Uellu had called me an ogre's cousin, and I'd believed he might be right. I'd thought Ijori saw me as hulking and unwomanly. I'd anticipated insults before they came. I'd avoided looking in actual mirrors, but I'd gazed constantly in the mirror in my mind and always hated what I showed myself.
I looked again in the real mirror in front of me.
Dignified. Dignified and grand.
I closed my eye and saw myself again. Milk-white face, blood-red lips. Dignified and grand.
I reviewed my song and changed a word or two.
Plot Summary:
Left as a baby, Aza is found by a loving innkeeper and wife who raise her as their own. She grows large and homely, causing her shame and low self-esteem. But, she is kind and has a gift for song, making curious guests drawn to her, including a wise gnome and a duchess. She is invited to the castle as the handmaid for the king's wedding to a mysterious young woman from another land. This new queen befriends Aza and learns of Aza's gift of song and the ability to illuse. She threatens to harm Aza's family unless Aza illuses a voice for the queen at the kingdom Sings.
The prince is also intrigued by Aza and much to Aza's pleasant surprise they develop a friendship. Aza learns that the queen has been given beauty through a magical mirror given by the Fairy Lucinda, the same one in the book Ella Enchanted. A creature lives in the mirror who is giving the queen poor advice on running the kingdom while the king is ill.
Aza's illusing is soon revealed, but not before she goes to the mirror and asks for beauty. With physical beauty the problems begin for Aza, including imprisonment and a run-in with a poison apple.
Related Books:
Other Fantasy Books for Girls:
Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted
The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
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Sexual ContentInnocent words of love exchanged, some hand-holding, kissing. |
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ViolenceA girl is gagged, tied up, and left in dungeon cell, then threatened to be killed by guard or eaten by ogres. Poisoning by apple also threatens death. |
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Social BehaviorTrue beauty is beneath the surface. Love and respect by family and friends help one to overcome low self esteem. |
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