My daughter is currently princess crazy. Her favorite princess is Princess Pea from the PBS series Super Why! Princess Pea as you can probably guess is the daughter of the princess who passed the pea test. So when I was looking for longer books to read to her during bath time, The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine was an obvious choice. In Levine's version, set in her fantasy realm of Biddle, Lorelei is a commoner with very royal tastes. She likes the best foods, the purest soaps, the finest materials. A natural klutz and prone to allergic reactions to things that aren't quite right, she spends her time embroidering anything and everything perfectly. Meanwhile the king and queen of Biddle are trying to find an appropriate princess for their son to marry. They put together a series of tests meant to weed out the list to the perfect match. What they don't consider is that a commoner with uncommon tastes might be able to pass the test! Levine's humor shines in this book. As it's significantly shorter than Ella Enchanted she wastes no words on setting up a joke or a scene. She jumps right to the point with a biting humor that made the book hilarious to read. The humor though is secondary to a well crafted story which captivated Harriet and kept her going all the way to the end.

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more. “She cried when her porridge was too hot or too cold or too salty or too bitter or too sweet. She cried when her bathwater was too hot or too cold or too wet or not wet enough.” – The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine Just by the first page, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. In The Princess Test, a retelling of a Danish fairy tale called The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen (or “The Princess on the Peas”) a little girl named Lorelei has a humble heart and is kind to anyone and everyone she meets. The problem is that even though she wants to help and wants to contribute to the household chores, she always ends up hurt in one way or another. The nanny her father hired does not like Lorelei because she is so lazy! She can’t do anything without getting hurt! She wants to "do her off.." Prince Nicholas has two parents that never agree on anything. If one thinks it’s too salty, the other thinks it’s too sweet. The king and queen come up with a test that maidens will undertake who want to marry Nicholas. Lorelei, after some unfortunate events, becomes an applicant… What will happen? Will Nicholas and Lorelei end up together? Will Lorelei end up accidentally hurt herself beyond repair? What exactly are the test and why are they so ridiculous but so true? Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me), as long as the scary nanny's thoughts don't run you off. I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing.