After a humorous and inventive re-enactment of Cinderella's three appearances at the royal ball, the action concludes with a slightly skewed but happy ending. Young readers will be charmed by the budding romance between Ella and her prince and touched by her crippling fear of hurting the prince via the curse. Levine ably creates tension between the good and evil characters, throwing in an assortment of ogres, elves and gnomes. Although Mandy won't use what she calls ""big magic,"" she does give Ella a magical book that, through glimpses of other people's correspondence, lets her see what is going on in the lives of her new friend, Prince Charmont, her soon-to-be stepsisters and her greedy father. Before her death, Ella's mother commands her daughter to keep the curse a secret-only the cook, Mandy, who is also a fairy, knows the truth. Ella is burdened with a curse (she cannot disobey a command), bestowed at birth as a gift from an addled fairy and this-plus the loss of her beloved mother-causes all sorts of troubles. Ella soon realizes that this gift is little better than a curse, for how can she truly be herself if at anytime anyone can order her to hop on one foot, or cut off her hand, or betray her kingdom'and she'll have to obey? Against a bold tapestry of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella's quest to break the curse once and for all and discover who she really is is as sharply funny as "Catherine, Called Birdy" and as richly poignant as "Beauty," and has all the marks of a classic in the making.Levine's artful debut novel features a spunky heroine whose trials, all faced with admirable steadiness, give new twists to the classic Cinderella story.
In this incredible debut novel comes the richly entertaining story of Ella of Frell, who at birth was given the gift of obedience by a fairy.
Against a bold backdrop of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella goes on a quest to break the curse - once and for all. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it's hopping on one foot for a day and a half, or chopping off her own head But strong-willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. At her birth, Ella of Frell was the unfortunate recipient of a foolish fairy's gift - the "gift' of obedience.
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