Fairest
By (Author) Gail Carson Levine
By (author) Gail Carson Levine
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
HarperCollins
21st August 2008
10th June 2008
United States
General
Fiction
813.54
Short-listed for Young Hoosier Book Award (Middle Grades) 2009
Paperback
352
Width 130mm, Height 194mm, Spine 18mm
231g
Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty . . .
Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the lightespecially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince, a jealous queen, palace intrigue, and an injured king twine into a maze that Aza must penetrate to save herself and her beloved kingdom.
"Readers will instantly fall in love with the heroine, whose heart proves to be as warm as her voice." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "[Readers will] sink into the fairy-tale romance, the remarkable characters, and the wild, magical adventures." -- ALA Booklist "A song-filled, fast-paced fairy tale." -- Kirkus Reviews "Inventive and original" -- KLIATT
Gail Carson Levine's first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Ever, a New York Times bestseller; Fairest, a Best Book of the Year for Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and a New York Times bestseller; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; A Tale of Two Castles; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly and Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink, as well as the picture books Betsy Who Cried Wolf and Betsy Red Hoodie. Gail Carson Levine and her husband, David, live in a two-centuries-old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley of New York State.