Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

From the Publisher

A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9

After the end of a long war, a young soldier travels to the capital to find his only remaining relatives and a job. Galen obtains work as a palace gardener, where he meets the king's oldest daughter and soon learns of the mystery surrounding Rose and her 11 younger sisters: in spite of being watched every night, they somehow wear out pair after pair of dancing slippers. Readers soon learn that the siblings are paying off their mother's debt to the evil King Under Stone by dancing every night with his sons. Several princes have failed to unravel the mystery. Can Galen, driven by his love for Rose, discover the truth and save the princesses? While readers may be familiar with the fairy tale that's the basis for this story, George creates suspense by showing the princesses' suffering and Galen's determination to help his beloved. He is a sympathetic hero, and his feelings about war and talent for knitting help bring him to life. Rose and her florally named sisters are distinguished by character traits and move beyond stock figures as well. Fans of fairy-tale retellings like Robin McKinley's Beauty (1978) or Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (1979, both HarperCollins) will enjoy this story for its magic, humor, and touch of romance.-Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI

Kirkus Reviews

As she did so deliciously with 2008's Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, George takes another fairy tale, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and turns it into a rich and engaging novel. Princess Rose and her 11 sisters must dance each night for the King Under Stone, even when they grow exhausted and ill. They cannot explain their enchantment, cast when their dead mother bargained for both their births and peace for the kingdom of Westfalin. Galen, a young orphaned soldier home from the war against Analousia, has homely skills, including an easy hand at knitting. Watching after Rose from his position as castle gardener, he finds reason to use the strange gifts (a cloak of invisibility and some remarkable yarn) given him by a crone to whom he was kind. Galen, Rose and her sisters are engaging company throughout; near the end the story spirals up in intensity, touching on witchcraft and evil clerics along the way before a satisfyingly exciting conclusion. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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