<i>Ivy's Ever After</i> (review)

2010; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 63; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/bcc.0.1846

ISSN

1558-6766

Autores

Kate Quealy-Gainer,

Tópico(s)

American and British Literature Analysis

Resumo

Reviewed by: Ivy's Ever After Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Lairamore, Dawn. Ivy's Ever After. Holiday House, 2010. [320p]. ISBN 978-0-8234-2261-6 $16.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6. Princess Ivy has never quite been a proper princess—ever since her mother's death and her father's descent into madness (albeit a harmless, quirky sort of madness), Ivy has had her run of the castle, ignoring appropriate court decorum and instead opting to spend her time reading books, frolicking in the dirt, and engaging in other similarly scandalous behavior. She is quite content with her less than traditional existence until she learns that, upon her fourteenth birthday, she is to be imprisoned in a tower guarded by a dragon until a dashing knight comes to rescue her, thus earning her hand in marriage. Even more troubling than her imprisonment is the fact that her savior is set to be none other than Prince Romil, a conniving, arrogant young man intent on destroying the royal family and building an empire of his own. So Ivy does what any plucky, improper princess would: she teams up with her guard dragon, tricks a tribe of trolls, eludes deadly water sprites, finds her long-lost fairy godmother, and manages to save herself, the dragons, and her kingdom in the meantime. Tween fans of Gail Carson Levine and Jessica Day George will find plenty to enjoy here, from Ivy's tender friendship with an amusingly timid dragon to her often gutsy and always daring escapes from various dangers. The dragon himself is also not simply a sidekick but a wonderfully drawn, fully realized character, contributing a fair amount of humor and drama of his own. Although the storyline is far from surprising, the plot moves along at a fast clip, sweeping readers into Ivy's fairy-tale adventure. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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