Book Review: _Cinderella's Dress_ by Shonna Slayton

Now that school is over for the year, I have been reading more books to follow my own interest.  I was asked by a homeschooling mom to read her book before it was published through NetGallery.  It did involve getting registered with NetGallery and now involves getting emails from them with other books to read.  Booklover's paradise.  I published my review on Amazon this morning.  I am not one of those people who likes to reveal too much of the story, especially one that is well written and has elements of mystery to it as this story does.  It basically starts with the premise that Cinderella was a Polish woman who became queen after wearing a magical dress to the ball and capturing the Prince's heart.  When she is queen, she gives a loyal family of servants the privilege of being keepers of the dress when her kingdom comes under attack from the step-sisters and their husbands.  The protagonist, Kate, is in this line.  My official Amazon review is below:

I was asked to review it by Netgallery and, like other reviewers, the concept of continuing the Cinderella story through the dress caught my interest. I have to give this five stars because the story completely drew me in and I couldn't put it down.

Kate is the main protagonist whose mother wants her to become America's version of royalty, which is a Hollywood star.  Kate has different ambitions, wanting to crack the male-dominated world of department store window dressing.  And her talents seem to definitely align with her dreams.  One day, her great-aunt and great-uncle from Poland arrived unannounced at their doorstep with a big trunk.  And soon, Kate's great-aunt reveals that her family comes from a long line of caretakers of Cinderella's ball gown and wedding dress.  But is her aunt's story as fictional as the fairy tale of Cinderella seems to be?  

The author manages to weave several themes together as beautifully as Kate's great aunt tats lace, with the setting of the story in WWII.  And I love the fact that the story begins with the fairy tale, but the romance in this storyline is decidedly un-fairy tale.  What kept my attention was how she draws the characters out, little by little and how well she generally manages a lot of characters and several side stories.  Many books written for teens these days use chapter-ending cliff-hangers to keep you reading, but this book only uses that device for the actual climax.  Instead, she uses the mystery of the dress, of Kate's family background and of Kate's character development to hold our attention.

There is one development involving Kate and her aunt that is a bit jarring because it seems to come out of nowhere and a couple of minor story arcs could probably have been eliminated.  However, the strength of the story overcomes these slight problems.

I would highly recommend it for teens and tweens, but I believe that adults would thoroughly enjoy the book also.

This was a total joy to read.  This book is available on Kindle, though we are planning to buy a non-electronic version and get the author's signature.

Having fun with backgrounds

I am using Google Blogger and was getting bored with the plain, rather stark purple background, though royal purple is my favorite color. My love of purple started when I saw Donny Osmond, the cutest teenager in the whole world, reveal in "The Donny and Marie Show" that he wore sparkly purple socks. Even though I am no longer smitten by Donny, I still love the color because it is muted without being dull with a hint of sparkle to it. However, just like a little fresh paint makes a room look new, I thought I would play with the background for my blog.

I chose the book theme because I do love reading books. It is common for me to read three or four a time, usually out of necessity. Right now, I am reading John Adams by David McCullough and Voices of the French Revolution, which is a compilation of letters of people at the time and scholarly commentary. I am reading both as homeschool assignments, but I am enjoying getting to know John Adams in more detail. David McCullough does a great job of including the letters of John and Abigail Adams. There is something that I really like about John's stubborness and frankness, though, like all the Founding Fathers, he was a mixure of mud and glory. The book does not paint a complimentary picture of Benjamin Franklin. Apparently, he and King Soloman had shared the same weaknesses.

In the library queue is Inkheart by Cornelia Caroline Funke, which my 11 year old daughter is encouraging me to read, A History of Germany from the Medieval Empire to the Present by Deither Raff , and Spain, 1469-1714: A Society in Conflict by Henry Kamen. I will be reading these after I finish the other two. Ever since I started homeschooling, I have become very interested in history. The new curriculum I am using for history and literature is called "Tapestry of Grace" and the theme is how history is like a tapestry with interconnecting threads. I like that visual.

Now that I have exhausted that stream of consiousness, I will be spending some time over the next few days deciding if I like the new layout or if it is too busy. Please let me know what you think.