| Author/Contributor(s): | Vande Velde, Vivian; Hyman, Trina Schart |
| Publisher: | Clarion Books |
| Date: | 8/1/1997 |
| Binding: | Paperback |
| Condition: | NEW |
Rescuing a sleeping prince takes quick wits, a bit of magic, and a princess who refuses to play by the rules.
Once upon a time there was a very nice but very plain princess named Jennifer, who, following proper fairy-tale protocol, fell for a very handsome but very conceited prince named Alexander.
A proper suitor might have courted her with polite conversation, but Alexander prefers complaining about her father’s drafty castle and boasting of his quest for a bride. Bored while waiting for the village blacksmith, he coaxes Jennifer through a locked iron gate into the enchanted woods.
The path vanishes, and the prince insists that royalty never gets lost. Instead, he marches into an empty cottage and decides a talking mirror will make a marvelous souvenir.
When Alexander offends a powerful witch, it falls to Jennifer to save him. In the course of doing so, she meets a wizard and soon wonders if she’s such a proper fairy-tale princess after all--a good little princess would love Alexander, but does she?
- Fractured Fairy Tale: Subverting classic storybook traditions, this comedic adventure features a down-to-earth princess who must rely on quick thinking and a jinni burdened with 983 strict rules.
- Unlikely Allies: Jennifer teams up with Norman, an anxious young sorcerer whose magic ring alters his appearance into an eagle or an old man without granting him a shred of extra power.
- Quest Adventure: Journeying into the Valley of Darkness and Despair, the pair must outwit a hungry potato-peeling giant and tongue-tie a fiery dragon before facing the ruthless enchantress Malveenya.
- Also by This Author: Heir Apparent, The Rumpelstiltskin Problem and Three Good Deeds.