Ella Enchanted is a Newberry award-winning book by Gail Carson Levine. It evokes the archetype of Cinderella as a fantasy story. When Ella is born, she is “blessed” with the gift of obedience by a fairy. Whenever she disobeys or hesitates in following an order, it costs her dearly in physical pain. After her father re-marries, she is essentially banished with her two step-sisters to a boarding school that she hates. Although she manages to escape and meet with her father, she cannot avoid the fate of being exploited by her step family since her step-sister figured out that she obeys without question. Instead of dying like in the original, her father instead abandons her to live with her new family because he has lost all of his money in various schemes and needs to get it back. Ella meets her love interest early in the book and knows it is the prince. Unlike in the original story, Ella falls in love with him slowly through the letters that they write to one another. Eventually, they do live happily ever after. Although some of the characters seem two-dimensional, it is written in the first person from Ella's point of view and the reader experiences events with Ella. Although the story echoes the original Cinderella tale, it is the mastery description and wonderfully written characters that make it new again. This book is also available in paperback and with a library binding. Published 1997 by Middle Grade, 240 p. Hardcover, $16.25.
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