She endures a great deal of loss and loneliness, and some of her major problems–a jealous sister, unrequited first love, betrayal by those she feels closest to–are just as relavent today as they were in her day. Elizabeth’s voice is sure, steady, and sympathetic–you can’t help but feel sorry for the young girl who has no real parent, as her father changes his mind about his affections for her on the slightest whim. What makes the story work really well is the narration. The story is told through her eyes, and it traces her from the time she loses her status as princess at age 9 to the day she becomes queen.
Rinaldi’s book definitely does her justice. Because of the girl’s interest in Tudor England, I knew immediately which book to recommend: The Redheaded Princess.Įlizabeth I is a fascinating character, and Ms. I love that book, it is one of my favorites, but definitely not appropriate for that age group. The other day, a friend of mine who has a twelve year old daughter asked me if I thought it would be okay to let her daughter read The Other Boleyn Girl. A bolstering blend of empowering and wish-fulfilling, this will be a splendid escape for those who can't quite swing the real Italian thing.Publisher: HarperCollins (January 29, 2008) Depth accrues from implications about Hayley's mother's own youthful experiences and the way both positive and negative approaches to life can be transmitted down the generations, and it's also clear that Hayley's changes are more attitudinal than physical, so that the pudgy Santa Monican can indeed have the same body as the sexy visiting Americana in Italy.
This is basically Enchanted April for YAs, and a fine romantic version it is too, expertly walking its heroine through the dreamy pleasures of a foreign idyll while keeping enough touch with reality to make the interlude seem achievable. Though she's initially floored by the absence of internet and phone contact with her best friend back home, Hayley soon falls in love with the relaxed pace of the Umbrian countryside, the simple pleasures of Italian family life-and Enzo, a handsome young local. Summer brings a reprieve from the talking scale, however, with a summer trip to Italy, where she'll stay with the family of her mother's old friend. In a Santa Monica high school filled with slender blonde beauties, Hayley is a pudgy brunette ("woefully short on highlights of any kind") prone to binge eating when stressed, often made so by her healthy-eating mother's attempts to get Hayley to slim down.
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