Princess of the Midnight Ball (Twelve Dancing Princesses Series)

by Jessica Day George

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George re-imagines the classic fairy-tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, in this start to an enchanting YA fantasy series.

Rose is one of twelve princesses--sisters condemned to dance every night in the palace of the King Under Stone. Galen is a young soldier returning from war. Together they will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to attend the endless midnight balls. All they need is an invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with silver needles, and that most critical fairy tale ingredient--true love.

Don't miss these other stories from New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George:

The Twelve Dancing Princesses series
Princess of the Midnight Ball
Princess of Glass
Princess of the Silver Woods

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Silver in the Blood

The Rose Legacy series
The Rose Legacy

Tuesdays at the Castle series
Tuesdays at the Castle
Wednesdays in the Tower
Thursdays with the Crown
Fridays with the Wizards
Saturdays at Sea

Dragon Slippers series
Dragon Slippers
Dragon Flight
Dragon Spear

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599907727
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Series:	Twelve Dancing Princesses Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	139,543
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

JESSICA DAY GEORGE is the New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Legacy series, the Tuesdays at the Castle series, the Twelve Dancing Princesses series, the Dragon Slippers trilogy, as well as Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow and Silver in the Blood. Originally from Idaho, she studied at Brigham Young University and worked as a librarian and bookseller before turning to writing full-time. She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their three young children.
www.jessicadaygeorge.com
@jessdaygeorge
JESSICA DAY GEORGE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tuesdays at the Castle series, the Twelve Dancing Princesses series, and the Dragon Slippers trilogy. Originally from Idaho, she studied at Brigham Young University and worked as a librarian and bookseller before turning to writing full-time. She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their three young children.
www.jessicadaygeorge.com
@jessdaygeorge

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-9

After the end of a long war, a young soldier travels to the capital to find his only remaining relatives and a job. Galen obtains work as a palace gardener, where he meets the king's oldest daughter and soon learns of the mystery surrounding Rose and her 11 younger sisters: in spite of being watched every night, they somehow wear out pair after pair of dancing slippers. Readers soon learn that the siblings are paying off their mother's debt to the evil King Under Stone by dancing every night with his sons. Several princes have failed to unravel the mystery. Can Galen, driven by his love for Rose, discover the truth and save the princesses? While readers may be familiar with the fairy tale that's the basis for this story, George creates suspense by showing the princesses' suffering and Galen's determination to help his beloved. He is a sympathetic hero, and his feelings about war and talent for knitting help bring him to life. Rose and her florally named sisters are distinguished by character traits and move beyond stock figures as well. Fans of fairy-tale retellings like Robin McKinley's Beauty (1978) or Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (1979, both HarperCollins) will enjoy this story for its magic, humor, and touch of romance.-Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI

School Library Journal

As she did so deliciously with 2008's Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, George takes another fairy tale, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and turns it into a rich and engaging novel. Princess Rose and her 11 sisters must dance each night for the King Under Stone, even when they grow exhausted and ill. They cannot explain their enchantment, cast when their dead mother bargained for both their births and peace for the kingdom of Westfalin. Galen, a young orphaned soldier home from the war against Analousia, has homely skills, including an easy hand at knitting. Watching after Rose from his position as castle gardener, he finds reason to use the strange gifts (a cloak of invisibility and some remarkable yarn) given him by a crone to whom he was kind. Galen, Rose and her sisters are engaging company throughout; near the end the story spirals up in intensity, touching on witchcraft and evil clerics along the way before a satisfyingly exciting conclusion. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews