If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? Deborah Stevenson Kantor, Melissa If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? Hyperion, 2005 [256p] ISBN 0-7868-0960-4$15.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Lucy's list outlining the similarities between Cinderella's life and hers reveals the bleak fact that there are quite a few: though Lucy's father isn't dead, he's away all week on the West Coast, leaving Lucy with a stepmother (who, six months after the marriage, still hasn't gotten around to furnishing Lucy's basement room), and with two younger stepsisters (overtly favored by their mother). Since she's the new kid in school, there's no help there, either—at least not until Connor, a senior jock who's the most desired boy in high school, takes a shine to basketball-loving Lucy, catapulting her into high-school royalty and a princessy trip to the prom. Since this isn't a fairy tale but a romance, genre fans will guess early on that it's the cool and artistic Sam who's Lucy's real destiny, but it's still entertaining to watch her float toward the wrong prince as she trades barbs with the right one. The book rises above what could be another jokey folklore pastiche with its sincerity and warmth. Lucy genuinely is slighted at home, in a way that speaks to many teens' emotional (and sometimes actual) reality; Connor's not a loser in prince's clothing, just the wrong guy, and the popular girls who befriended Lucy at her ascension are nice girls who have no intention of dumping her just because she's walked away from the school star. As with Kantor's Confessions of a Not It Girl (BCCB 4/04), this is a blend of solid, witty perceptiveness and tasty froth, and middle-school readers will consume it with relish. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois