This is the fractured and funny saga of four Princes Charming, who really aren't that charming, and four princesses, who are perfectly capable of saving themselves, thank you very much. Readers might not recognize the names Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav, but their partners Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel will obviously ring a bell, and imaginative first-time children's novelist Healy places them all in neighboring kingdoms, provides when-boy-meets-girl backstories, and sets them on a quest to . . . do a lot of things, actually. Such tasks include defeating witches, battling dragons, rescuing imprisoned bards, and other assorted hero-type things, which are accomplished with lots of slapstick action and tongue-in-cheek, eye-roll-worthy dialogue, with some life lessons ( sometimes being a hero isn't about getting the glory. It's about doing what needs to be done ) thrown in for good measure. Take Jon Scieszka's The Frog Prince, Continued (1991) concept, add 400 pages, shake silly, and read with glee. Complete interior illustrations unseen.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2010 Booklist
Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel-classic stories that share one important character: Prince Charming. But Frederic, Duncan, Liam, and Gustav are four very different princes, and happily ever after isn't working out as well as they'd hoped. Cinderella has walked out on Frederic in search of adventure, oddball Duncan gets lost in the woods after Snow White sends him away, Liam's reputation is in tatters after he refuses to marry the wealthy Sleeping Beauty, and Gustav is the laughingstock of the kingdom because Rapunzel saved him. After Cinderella is captured by a witch, Frederic calls on the other princes for help, but when their quest lands them in the middle of an evil plot against their kingdoms, the four must get past their clashing personalities and save the day. Despite a reliance on coincidences, Healy's fast-paced debut is overflowing with suspense, humor, and carefully developed characters. Healy injects age-old characters and fairy tale tropes with a fresh, contemporary sensibility, resulting in a crowd-pleaser with laugh-out-loud lines on nearly every page. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Agent: Cheryl Pientka, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
