72. The Seventh Princess by Nick Sullivan

The Seventh Princess by Nick Sullivan (Canada) - (US) Out of Print

Pages: 107
Ages: 7-11
Finished: Mar. 19, 2011
First Published: 1983
Publisher: Scholastic-TAB Publications
Genre: children, fantasy
Rating: 3/5



First sentence:

On a cold, foggy morning in the month of November Jennifer sat by herself in the big yellow schoolbus.

Acquired: Purchased a used copy at a book/garage sale or thrift shop.

Reason for Reading: This is another book from the Randomly Selected Bookshelf that I am reading from this year. I have not read this before but I have always had a copy of it. One of the purposes of reading from this shelf is to move books out of the house. This one will be sent off to Bookmooch.

Jennifer is on her way to school looking out the window at the forest, daydreaming when suddenly she is inside a horse drawn carriage, taken to a palace and everyone is calling her Princess Miranda. She quickly makes friends with the dwarf Jester, Samson, and it doesn't take her more than a few minutes to realize that the High Chancellor is an evil man. She finds out that her fate here is doomed, but also that the fate of Elandria itself is in peril and she is given the secret on how it may be possible to save not only herself but the whole country from evil.

This is what one might call a "first fantasy". It has all the ingredients needed for a fast paced fantasy story and is populated by Kings, Evil power hungry men, dwarfs, harpies, wicked witches and missing real prince and princess. The plot is quite simple. The "twists" were no surprise to this adult reader but I think they will be just enough for the young reader just discovering this genre. The characters are rather stereotypical of the parts they play but the two main characters Samson, the dwarf and Jennifer are fully fleshed causing the reader to root for them on their various dangerous outings. While not the best book ever written, this has a certain something to it that makes it endearing to the reader. I'm not sure just what it is but I think it may be Jennifer's spunk and pluck which she shows right from the beginning to the most evil man in the land, unbeknownst to her, and that lets the reader know what to expect from her for the rest of the book. This is obviously a girl's book. What little girl wouldn't want to suddenly find herself being called Your Highness, waited on hand and foot, then finding she is the heroine who must save the day! An action-packed story for youngsters just venturing into the genre.