By: Catherine Murdock Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Houghton Mifflin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 344 Publication Date: March 18, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: Benevolence is not your typical princess and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to unknown assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia, who is intent on marrying her off to the first available "specimen of imbecilic manhood." Starved and miserable, locked in the castle's highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire . . . But Ben's private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat facing the castle and indeed the entire country. Can Princess Ben save her kingdom from annihilation and herself from permanent enslavement?
Princess Ben This is a delightful imaginative book that will take the reader into a new land.
A fabulous new fairy tale Princess Benevolence has lived a carefree life in the Kingdom of Montagne. With her uncle as King and her father as Prince, she is surrounded with luxury, though she has always been more interested in playing and eating sweets than wearing stylish gowns and attending fancy balls. Her mother tries to keep her earthbound by insisting they live over the guards' quarters instead of directly in the palace, and sets an example of generosity by treating the sick and wounded people of their kingdom.
Soon following Ben's 15th birthday party, the anniversary of her grandfather's death arrives, and the royal family departs to visit his grave. Unfortunately, Ben has overdone her party festivities and comes down with a cold, so she must stay in bed rather than accompany the family. Within hours, news of the horrid tragedy spreads across the country --- the King and Ben's mom have been murdered! And Ben's father, intent on following the killer for revenge, has disappeared into the surrounding mountains. The kingdom of Montagne falls into mourning.
With her father missing, Princess Ben becomes the next heir. But since she's underage, the ruling of the kingdom falls on the shoulders of Ben's strict aunt, Queen Sophia. The queen takes it upon herself to prepare Ben for her royal responsibilities, enrollling her in a no-nonsense crash course --- including language, etiquette and sewing lessons, all of which Ben despises --- and putting her on a strict diet to try to slim out her rather rounded figure. She is determined to shape Ben into a charming and beautiful princess in order to marry her off to strengthen the Kingdom's ties.
Starving, mourning her family and disgruntled with her aunt's unreasonable demands, Ben finds herself miserable. The one solace she has is the secret basket of food that a sympathetic employee leaves under her bed. But when Ben fails to lose weight, Sophia investigates and discovers the hidden stash. Life then goes from bad to worse, as her aunt forces her to move into a desolate tower cell attached to the queen's own quarters.
But then Ben discovers a hidden room connected to her cell. The dusty, secret nook contains a book of magic that teaches her spells, including conjuring fire and flying on a broom. Ben practices diligently every night, perfecting her skills in hopes they may help her escape out from under her aunt's clutches. However, she has no idea of the dangerous world in which she is about to enter, including war, enslavement --- and falling in love.
PRINCESS BEN is Catherine Gilbert Murdock's third novel, and she has proven once again her charming talent in weaving an entertaining story. She brings imagination, a sense of humor, adventure and colorful characters to the pages of her book, engaging readers until the very end. Murdock has chosen a poised and dignified voice for her main character, perfectly fitting of a royal princess, even though our young, clumsy heroine doesn't quite fit the mold as perfectly, at least in the beginning. Readers of this energetic fairy tale will enjoy accompanying Ben on her journey to maturity and in learning how to best serve her kingdom.
--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND
Ella Enchanted Still Reigns In the author's attempt at eloquence, she uses such unnecessary flowery words, which painted no pictures or brought to mind no feelings. It was simply wordy for the sake of wordiness, and felt like the author had turned to her thesaurus at every sentence to see what extravagant turn of phrase she could create next. Because it is a coming of age tale, at the beginning the main character is not likable in the least. But by the end, she is not lovable, either. With a constant focus on food and her large weight, she suddenly has the relization that she's been eating for comfort, and not for sustenance. She instantly changes her ways, and food isn't mentioned again. Ridiculous. Eating disorders are never so easily conquered, and are perhaps too complicated a subject to be dissected in a book so short. The love story element was under-developed, and I felt that I cared little for either Ben or her Prince. The cute things I did appreciate, though, were the references made to fairy tales. The girl trades some "magic beans" for a cow, loses her shoe after a ball (by throwing it angrily at the prince), is stuck in a tall tower, and is laid under a spell to sleep. If the author had used fewer words trying to sound intelligent, and more words fleshing out her characters, I might have loved this book. As it was, I didn't hate it. But I barely liked it.
Rated G. No parental guidence necessary for this one.
Absolutely fabulous read! Could not put down! Well needed today..
First off, I must share my favorite line(s) from this book that sent me into fits of giggles:
With that, I hurled the slipper at him, not caring if I caused his decapitation. (I did not.) Marshaling what little dignity I yet possessed, I stomped down the corridor -- challenging indeed with one shoe -- and around the corner. I lay awake for hours. The prince had no right, not one, to indict me so, and if I had held the slightest hope of the book's assistance, I would have climbed at once to my wizard room for a spell with which to punish him. Death, perhaps, or humiliation. A croaking frog would be nice, particularly a frog that retained Florian's dark eyes. I should keep it in a box and poke it occasionally with a stick; that would be satisfying indeed.
Princess Ben is one of the most well thought-out and intellectually relevant books that I have ever read in today's time! Princess Benevolent has quite a year and must learn how to live up to her name. I earnestly can see where a reader can grow along with Ben, learning some difficult lessons that we especially today wish to ignore. Through this book I can see many a young, teenager, or older girl grow more into herself and what she will someday be. I feel like I learned somethings about myself through this book. All around a fabulous story, with twisting plots and turns I did not expect. The first section was a little droll, and I was waiting for excitement. Well the excitement came! and that build-up had been proper and necessary. I strongly encourage anyone to read this book. Buy it for your tween and teenage gals and let them go on the adventure. Goodness me, go on it yourself!
Fantastic Fantasy I was first captivated by this book when searching for new reading material for my young son. My eye was immediately drawn to the lovely cover, so I picked it up and started skimming the first page. I couldn't put it down! I bought it that day.
Princess Ben is a wonderful fantasy story set in a ficticious kingdom with rumors of dragons. When Ben loses her beloved parents, it sets into motion a string of fantastic adventures and events for her. From prisoner of war to princess of court, she emerges and transformers herself from misfit to royalty. I loved this book from page one.
It's a must read for those who love a good fantasy with romantic and magical elements. I highly recommend it!
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