By Jessica Day George

I love to sleep. That probably has nothing to do with the fact that I’m in high school and never get more than eight hours of sleep. But imagine if you never really got any sleep. Imagine if you catnapped a little in the evening and maybe slept from 6 to 8 am. Oh, and also you were playing a strenuous sport all night and you could never take a break. Oh, and at 8 am, you went to school and were there all day.

That’s my modern representation of what’s going on in this story.

Have you ever heard of the Twelve Dancing Princesses? This is another one of my favorite fairy tales, and surprisingly this is the only retelling of it I have read. If you don’t know, the story goes like this.

A soldier is returning from war and seeks work at a castle. Before he gets the job, he helps a mysterious old woman, who gives him a magical item as a reward. The castle is home to a king and his twelve daughters. But something strange is happening with the girls. Their shoes wear out quickly and they are always exhausted. Not just tired as if they’ve had a bad night of sleep. Falling asleep in random places tired. Can’t function normally tired. Contracting horrible illnesses tired. Nobody can figure out what is going on. The girls aren’t talking. And now the king has issued a proclamation that anyone who can solve the mystery will get to marry one of the princesses and inherit the kingdom. Unfortunately, everyone is failing to solve the problem…

If that story sounded at all interesting to you, you should totally check out this book. Additionally, if you liked any Jessica Day George books when you were little, you’ll probably like this one as well. In my humble opinion, it’s her best work.

My favorite part of this story is how well the exhaustion is portrayed. Many of the fairy tales I’ve read just say that the girls are tired and move on. But this one gets inside their heads. You see them wearing themselves out day after day, getting fevers because they’re so weak, but still continuing to dance. It’s honestly horrifying, especially when the girls’ ages range from something like 18 to 6 years old. But it’s so well done.

I also love the characters, especially Rose. I love finding my fellow older sisters with a lot of little siblings. 😊

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 3
• Age: 7th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★★