The Thirteenth Princess

It was enchanting! It was wonderful! I loved it I couldn't put it down. I read a lot of books and The Thirteenth princess is one of my favorites I highly recommend this book for people that love magic mysteries and dancing!

Zita, the heroine of this novel, is the youngest of thirteen princesses, and the only redhead among twelve blondes. Her mother died giving birth to Zita after growing increasingly sickly with each successive pregnancy. The king had insisted his wife keep trying for a son, but with each new daughter, his despondency increased. Finally, when Zita was born and her mother died, in a fit of rage he consigned Zita to the servant quarters, not wanting to be reminded of his lost wife and his shattered dreams of a male heir. Zita doesn't learn her history until she is seven, and it is not until she is eleven that she manages to piece together the entire history of her sisters' births and her own. Soon after, she is determined to find a way to get around her father's decree that she is not to associate with her sisters. They have been afraid to take any initiative to connect with Zita themselves, but they are happy to welcome her among them when she successfully figures out a way to be with them. She sneaks into their bedroom by means of a never-used dumbwaiter that leads from the basement of the castle to the highest reaches and connects with their room. Because Zita is spending time with her sisters, she is close at hand when their health begins to falter. They are exhausted all the time, and Zita notices that every night their shoes are worn out. Zita is determined to discover what is going on and ultimately only Zita stands between her sisters and slow death from a magical curse. Zita is a lively, three-dimensional character with whom I very much enjoyed spending time. She is a strong, determined, loving, generous girl and a good role model in many ways for the young girls who will read her story. The entire book is beautifully written. The language has a fairy-tale feel while still being easy to follow for modern kids. The setting is clearly described so that images of Zita's castle both inside and out, the mysterious woods near the castle, and the magical world in which the twelve princesses dance all spring vividly to mind. Though only a couple of the twelve princesses, all of whose names begin with "A", stand out, this was not an issue for me personally. There are a great many lesser characters in the book, and I believe the author made a sound decision to keep some of them in the background so that Zita could constantly hold center stage. All in all, this is a quick, fun read which I highly recommend for middle-grade girls.

"The Twelve Dancing Princesses" has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, and to me it's a mystery why Disney hasn't latched on to this one, too. For princess-crazed little girls, it has not one, not two, but 12 beautiful young women, all with fabulous wardrobes --- and all those shoes! Just to recap for those of you who haven't picked up THE RED FAIRY BOOK lately: the original story, collected by the Brothers Grimm, is about 12 royal sisters who all sleep together in the same locked room. They claim to sleep soundly each night, but every morning they come out looking exhausted, and their slippers are worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king offers a daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who discovers their secret. A clever soldier, helped by a witch's invisibility cloak, secretly follows the sisters through a trap door and into an enchanted world, where the young women dance all night long with handsome young men. The soldier secretly collects evidence of their travels (a silver branch, a golden cup) and presents it to the king, who offers his eldest daughter's hand in marriage when the girls finally confess. Diane Zahler, a longtime fan of fairy tales, remains faithful to these original bones while leaving her own, more modern stamp on the story. Her kingdom is a darker, sadder place than the one in the Grimms' tale; here the girls' father is a cruel, angry man, driven to a life of bitterness and disappointment after his wife fails 13 times to give him a male heir, finally dying as she gives birth to their 13th daughter. That's right --- 13. But there's a reason we've never heard of this 13th princess before. She's been banished from her sisters' chambers, relegated to a life of servitude because she reminds her father too much of his late wife and her failings. But when Zita (the only sister whose name does not start with "A") discovers her parentage at the opening of the novel, she's thrilled that she finally has a family; when her sisters claim her as one of their own, Zita is overcome with the unfamiliar new emotions of love and belonging. That's why she grows so concerned when, seemingly overnight, her older sisters grow increasingly wan and weary, becoming ever duller companions to the prospective husbands their father brings home for their review. Zita, advised by her new friends --- the stable boy, the witch and the soldier --- vows to get to the bottom of the mystery. She discovers that, although she might not share her sisters' traditional beauty, she does have skills and a beauty of her own, one that might save her sisters, her family, and magic itself. Zahler's debut novel is a faithful but creative retelling of the original fairy tale, one that will appeal both to purists and revisionists. Zita is an appealing, bold character; her narration simultaneously preserves the old-fashioned narrative feeling of the classic fairy tales and also offers insights into her own vulnerabilities and strengths. At tim

My 9 year old, who is a strong and voracious reader thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It has a strong storyline and interesting characters that really hold the child's attention. Her older teen sisters read and enjoyed the book too. This is one of those novels that you're thrilled to stumble upon because it is entertaining and very well written with classic good vs evil conflicts unlike so many of the dumbed-down, bizarre children's novels that are in the market today. Kudos to the author on a book well written.

A truly enchanting and refreshing book for young readers. I bought this book for my nieces, but I loved reading it, too!

I have to say that my favorite fairy tale of all time is The Twelve Dancing Princesses and when I saw that there was a retelling I just had to have it. I am totally enchanted with this version, I loved Zita, I loved her spunk and passion. She was the Cinderella of this story and proved a delightful heroine who grew and loved as much as she could. I love all the interspersed love stories as I am a romantic at heart, and I hope that Ms. Zahler writes more, because I was definitely left with an appetite to read another tale. I especially loved the descriptions of the settings, illusions, and people... made me feel like I knew the place and was a part of it. Thanks for a fun read.