A PEARL AMONG PRINCES

A wisp of a plot barely holds the weight of the frothy, overworked prose in this transparent fairy-tale romance. Still, it’s possible that starry-eyed tweens will find appeal in the romance tropes nestled among familiar nursery rhymes in this first-person, present-tense narrative. The imaginary, royal-centric setting is the distilled cultural landscape of contemporary princess tales—references to Christian holidays and Joan of Arc are mixed with a singular lack of familiar technology. Gracepearl, who dreams of escape from her island home, is the Cook’s daughter in a community dedicated to the annual gentlemanly training of young princes of the region. Nearly 16, she’s eligible for betrothal to one of the princes, but regrets giving up her lifelong friendship with the stableboy, Mackree. While the princes’ charm and good looks outshine Mackree at nearly every turn, Gracepearl’s choice is telegraphed early on, and the only suspense is in how she will get her wish to keep Mackree and spread her wings as well. Should be read with a large dose of sand and sun. (Fantasy. 9-13)