The Thirteenth Princess

by Diane Zahler

Overview

Zita is not an ordinary servant girl—she's the thirteenth daughter of a king who wanted only sons. When she was born, Zita's father banished her to the servants' quarters to work in the kitchens, where she can only communicate with her royal sisters in secret.

Then, after Zita's twelfth birthday, the princesses all fall mysteriously ill. The only clue is their strangely worn and tattered shoes. With the help of her friends—Breckin the stable boy, Babette the witch, and Milek the soldier—Zita follows her bewitched sisters into a magical world of endless dancing and dreams. But something more sinister is afoot—and unless Zita and her friends can break the curse, the twelve princesses will surely dance to their deaths.

A classic fairy tale with a bold twist, The Thirteenth Princess tells the unforgettable story of a magical castle, true love, spellbound princesses—and the young girl determined to save them all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061948480
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/02/2010
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
File size:	370 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Diane Zahler is the author of The Thirteenth Princess, A True Princess, and Princess of the Wild Swans. Her books have been praised for their "delicious descriptions" (Kirkus Reviews) and their "gratifying depth" (Publishers Weekly). Diane lives with her husband in New York's Harlem Valley, in an old farmhouse held together by magic spells and duct tape.

What People are Saying About This

Gregory Maguire

“THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS is a lucky find, a wheeling gavotte of a novel that refreshes an old fairy tale with new enchantment.”

Diane Stanley

“Splendid entertainment with a guaranteed happy ever after.”

Alex Flinn

“An enchanting retelling.”

Editorial Reviews

Reworking the familiar ground of The Twelve Dancing Princesses into a story of resourcefulness and a loving heart, Zahler's debut deftly and thoughtfully embellishes the tale's classic elements. Banished to the life of a serving girl in the royal palace after her mother died in childbirth, Zita, at age seven, is shocked to learn she is the 13th daughter of harsh King Aricin. The sisters cherish Zita's stealthy visits to their bedroom via a hidden dumbwaiter, and despite the princesses' inability to secure husbands (they are rendered mute in the presence of suitors), all seems well until Zita turns 12 and her sisters sicken and take to their beds. As the princesses grow paler and more feeble, Zita's only clues are her sisters' mysteriously worn-out shoes. Suspecting evil magic, Zita enlists her friends—Breckin the stable boy, his soldier brother Milek, and Babette the forest witch—to help her. Zahler takes a light story and gives it gratifying depth, rounding out the characters and their motivations without betraying the source material and wrapping it all together in a graceful and cohesive romantic drama. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

This sweetly written reimagining of "The 12 Dancing Princesses" is for younger readers than the richer and darker Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George (2009). Narrator Zita is the 13th princess of the title, although she lives and works with the servants. Her 12 sisters all have names that begin with A, as did their mother, but her father named her and banished her when her mother died at Zita's birth. Stealthily she sneaks into her sisters' lives in ways her father has forbidden, and they love her, but they are falling prey to exhaustion and illness. A clever stableboy, his soldier brother, a wise woman in the woods and Cook help Zita to unravel the enchantment that holds her sisters. Delicious descriptions of gowns and (worn-out) slippers, teas and sweetmeats, pink castle and dark forest make up for the pale villains, incomplete magic and the occasional obviousness of the story's fairy-tale skeleton. (Fairy tale/fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Just the right combination of magic, adventure, and romance.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Zahler takes a light story and gives it gratifying depth, rounding out the characters and their motivations without betraying the source material and wrapping it all together in a graceful and cohesive romantic drama.” — Publishers Weekly

“Delicious descriptions” — Kirkus Reviews

Lively reworking of familiar elements.” — Booklist

“THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS is a lucky find, a wheeling gavotte of a novel that refreshes an old fairy tale with new enchantment.” — Gregory Maguire, author of WICKED and A LION AMONG MEN

“Splendid entertainment with a guaranteed happy ever after.” — Diane Stanley, author of BELLA AT MIDNIGHT

“An enchanting retelling.” — Alex Flinn, author of BEASTLY and A KISS IN TIME

From the Publisher

An enchanting retelling.

Alex Flinn

Splendid entertainment with a guaranteed happy ever after.

Diane Stanley

THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS is a lucky find, a wheeling gavotte of a novel that refreshes an old fairy tale with new enchantment.

Gregory Maguire

Just the right combination of magic, adventure, and romance.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Lively reworking of familiar elements.

Booklist

Just the right combination of magic, adventure, and romance.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Lively reworking of familiar elements.

Booklist

Just the right combination of magic, adventure, and romance.

The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books