New Releases by Gail Carson Levine

When she was born, Ella was accidentally given the curse of having to obey any order given to her. When her loving mother dies, she''s left with a mostly absent father and then a mean stepmother and sisters. Rather than giving in to fairy Lucinda''s curse, Ella rebels against it. She sets out to find Lucinda to make her undo the curse. Along the way, with wit and spunk, she fends off ogres, finds friends among the elves, and falls in love with a handsome prince who needs a bit of rescuing, himself.

When she was born, Ella was accidentally given the curse of having to obey any order given to her. When her loving mother dies, she''s left with a mostly absent father and then a mean stepmother and sisters. Rather than giving in to fairy Lucinda''s curse, Ella rebels against it. She sets out to find Lucinda to make her undo the curse. Along the way, with wit and spunk, she fends off ogres, finds friends among the elves, and falls in love with a handsome prince who needs a bit of rescuing, himself.

A spiteful fairy. A beautiful princess. An outstretched finger. A spindle. A hundred-year snooze. A charming prince. A kiss. All the familiar ingredients. But wait! Where did that extra prince come from? And those fairy gifts that were never there before? And what does a flock of balding sheep have to do with anything? Gail Carson Levine has waved her magic wand over the old standby of "Sleeping Beauty" and presto! It reappears, transformed, sparkling and hilarious. Chuckles and giggles are guaranteed.

Gail Carson Levine charmed the world with Ella Enchanted, her spirited retelling of the Cinderella story. Now this award-winning author turns her attention to two more classic fairy tales, and deftly turns them upside down and inside out with her trademark wit and hilarity. In The Fairy''s Mistake, two very different sisters have two very different encounters with the fairy Ethelinda. Rosella is kind and helpful. Her reward: Jewels and gems tumble out of her mouth whenever she speaks. Myrtle is rude and spiteful. Her punishment: Bugs and vipers slither out of her mouth. The fairy Ethelinda feels she''s meted out justice just right--until she discovers Rosella has been locked up by a greedy prince and Myrtle is having the time of her life! In The Princess Test, King Humphrey has decided it''s time for his son, Prince Nicholas, to marry. But he must make sure the bride is a real princess. So he devises a series of princess tests, designed to weed out the phonies and the fakes. Meanwhile, Nicholas has fallen in love with Lorelei, a mere blacksmith''s daughter. She''s no princess, but he wants to marry her all the same--but how will she ever pass the terrible tests? In these first two delightfully entertaining, laugh-out-loud Princess Tales, Gail Levine gently spoofs the notion that fairies are always right and that tests can ever prove a person''s worth, but holds fast to the notion that true love will always win in the end.

In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.