A DRESS TO REMEMBER
by K.L. Small ; illustrated by Brandon Dorman
A magical dress leads a beautiful but selfish princess on a life-changing adventure in Small’s middle-grade fantasy novel.
In the fairy-tale–like kingdom of Cygnia, lovely, vain, self-centered Princess Zarina wants the “most beautiful dress ever” for her birthday gala. Ignoring warnings that hordes of plundering raiders threaten the kingdom (“I am entitled to my special day,” she pouts), Zarina travels to a cottage deep in the forest where a gifted dressmaker named Mydori is reputed to live. Ignoring Zarina’s rudeness and seeming to acquiesce to her imperious demands for a golden ball gown, the mysterious Mydori instead fits the princess into a sumptuous, tightly laced, black gown. It is a magical “storytelling dress,” the seamstress explains, and before leaving Zarina alone in the forest, she cautions her that the amount of magic in the dress is limited, that it “must be used to benefit others,” and that, when it is gone, Zarina’s fate will have been determined. The dressmaker’s cottage disappears, the woods deepen around Zarina, and she is left to try to find her way home on foot, clad in the black gown that she can’t loosen or remove no matter how hard she tries. The author doesn’t let Zarina off lightly, deftly expressing her redemptive journey through the woods with lessons in humility (hunger, discomfort, and remediated disdain for the poor), painful revelations (the ill treatment of the peasantry under the king’s brutal overseer), a dire prophecy of loss, and dangerous conflict. Small conveys the magical nature of the gown through vivid imagery; as the magic dissipates, the garment gradually sheds bits of tulle, sequins, and beads. And although the deaths of certain characters close to Zarina seem a bit gratuitous, it rings true that the insights Zarina gains through adversity render her capable of a powerful act of selfless courage. Dorman’s three full-page, black-and-white illustrations are a welcome addition, depicting Zarina’s gown, alive with dancing fire fairies; dungeon guards bound with spiderwebs; and Zarina on horseback, racing away from a deadly pursuit. This refreshing debut is a well-crafted fantasy, nearly pitch-perfect in the cautionary fairy tale tradition.
An imaginative, well-told story with a hero who believably discovers her better self.