East by Edith Pattou

In which the girl Rose follows her destiny with a big white bear, saving her family and her self in the process. In this retelling of the Norweigan fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," we follow our heroine through dangerous adventures, a mysterious magical castle, watch her battle an evil Troll Queen, and sympathize with her family issues.

Describing this magical story is extremely hard because it's just so BIG. There's so much to it! The story is told from several different viewpoints, including Rose, her father, her brother, the White Bear, and the Troll Queen, so while you are reading, your experience of the story keeps widening. All I can say is that this is one of the best books I have ever read - please read this wonderful, wonderful book and I'm sure it will become a favorite of yours, too.

Recommended for: EVERYONE!!!

Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer

In which Anne Boleyn catches the eye of King Henry VIII (not necessarily a good thing!) In this book we follow Anne from her teenage years through her flirtatious years at court, to marrying the King and becoming Queen of England, to losing her head. Dang, what a life!

I have mixed feelings about Anne Boleyn; one part of me thinks, "Poor Anne" while another part of me thinks "What a sneaky little brat!" She didn't originally set out to become Queen, but she was selfish and greedy, so once she met Henry, it easily became her goal. When she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son (what a failure!) she became frantic to have a son and ended up going a little cuckoo. I really enjoyed this story about Queen Elizabeth's mother, and I bet you will too.

This is in the Young Royals series.


Recommended for: people who like large plots, scheming women, and stories of crazy families.

Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer

In Which Catherine of Aragon leaves Spain to start her new life in England. She marries Prince Arthur, an extremely nice boy who dies far too soon. Catherine becomes friends with Arthur's younger brother Henry, which is a good thing because her father-in-law is VERY cruel. We learn in this book how Catherine and Henry fall in love and become King and Queen of England.

One of the first things I learned from this book is that Catherine's real name was Catalina. I think it's terrible that these women making foreign political marriages had to give up EVERYTHING, including their first names! I would hate to be forced to give up my name just to get married! Everyone knows about Henry VIII and his six wives, and I really enjoyed learning the beginning of the story in this book.

This is in the Young Royals series.

Recommended for: people who like girls who don't give up, the Renaissance, and love stories.

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

In Which Tiffany Aching has some trouble with an Elemental and learns that when you dance with Winter suddenly snowflakes and icebergs are made in your image!


This is my favorite book of this trilogy. Tiffany has brought down (literally) this problem on herself and the Feegles can't help as much as they did before. She is 13 and dealing with a very insistent snowman! I won't be doing any Morris dancing anytime soon, I can tell you that!

This is book 3 of a trilogy.

Recommended for: people who like Granny Weatherwax, growing up, and sheep.

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

In Which Tiffany Aching goes to learn to be a witch and runs into a problem and needs the Feegels' help again.

I like this funny book a lot. Tiffany has a situation and needs a lot of help from her friends the Nac Mac Feegles (who aren't the brightest bunch in the forest) but they have good hearts and are devoted to helping her.

This is book 2 of a trilogy.

Recommended for: people who like odd witches, dressing up as scarecrows, and encounters with Death.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

In which a young girl from Discworld named Tiffany Aching battles the Queen of Fairyland with her little blue friends the Wee Free Men, also known as the Nac Mac Feegle.


The main reason I like this book is because it is hilarious! I like Tiffany's spunk and the Feegles' Scottish accents. I read this book out loud to my brother and we had a fun time! Now we can curse around the house in Scottish and my parents have no idea, haha. Ah, Crivens!

This is book 1 of a trilogy.


Recommended For: people who like witches, their grandmothers, adventures, and magical lands.