Bibliography: George, Jessica Day. (2009). Princess of the Midnight Ball. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books. ISBN: 978-1599903224
Plot Summary: Princess Rose and her 11 sisters are exhausted and wearing through a pair of dancing shoes almost every night. But no one knows how or why. Others have tried to discover their secret with no success, but Galen, a handsome kind-hearted young soldier with a talent for knitting, has help from unexpected places and both ingenuity and perseverance to discover the truth and help the princesses.
Critical Analysis: This is a wonderful, lush, full, romantic and engaging retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I have read a lot of fairy tales and retold fairy tales. The public library where I went as a small child had what seemed like a whole shelf of Andrew Lang’s color fairy books. My grandfather gave my sister and me a set of gilt edged tales, and I don’t know how many versions my mother had in her collection. I even asked for a complete volume of Grimm’s fairy tales when I was in college for Christmas. So the story of almost all fairy tales and the dancing princesses were very familiar. That probably explains why I enjoy retold fairy tales so much. When I heard this was based The Twelve Princesses, I thought that was interesting, considering that another newish title, Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier used the same tale of inspiration, and I know that there are many picture book versions, some with twists to the story as well.
What makes George’s unique and so satisfying to read is that she has taken the original Grimm tale and filled in and fleshed out all the details. If the Grimm version is a penciled sketch, then George has made a lush oil painting full of shadows and light and color and little details. The soldier has a name and a family that he is looking for and a talent for knitting. The princesses, especially the older ones have their own personalities, likes, dislikes, wishes. But all the details fit with the original, even down to the imagined version of Bavaria and the Germanic names and words. George has taken the story that some readers imagined in their minds and committed it to paper. And I didn’t want it to end. I guess I’ll have to go check out Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow and hope that Day has more wonderful retellings waiting in the wings.
Readalikes: Wildwood Dancing, as mentioned above, is another version of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. For me though, this book reminded me the most of Robin McKinley’s retold tales, especially the earlier ones. Beauty and Deerskin, and one of the stories in The Door in the Hedge has the dancing princesses as its source as well. For a series that starts with a retold Grimm’s tale then creates a cast of characters living in a different version of a historical and magical Bavaria, check out Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl and the rest of the Books of Bayern, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born.
Review Excerpts: “This is a well-realized and fast-paced fantasy-romance that will find favor among fans of fairy tales, feisty heroines, and dashing young men with strength, cunning, and sensitivity.”–Booklist
“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.”–Kirkus Reviews
Reviewed from public library copy
