Entwined

Gr 7—10—Princess Azalea is excited to be leading the Yule Ball and a little apprehensive about meeting her suitors. Before the dance, Azalea promises her sick mother that she will always take care of her younger sisters. During the ball, her mother dies giving birth to her twelfth daughter and the King declares the house in mourning. This means no more dancing, which proves too much for the grief-stricken sisters. They find a way around this restriction by going through a secret passage in their room that leads to a pavilion in a silver forest taken care of by a man calling himself Keeper. Keeper allows the girls a place to dance, but what he wants in return may cost the girls what they hold most dear. Heather Dixon's suspenseful, dark, romantic story (Harper, 2011) is based on the Grimm tale, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (or "The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes"). Each of the princesses has a unique personality, as do the suitors of the oldest girls. The villainous King D'Eathe and the mysterious Keeper provide a chilling quality to the story, keeping listeners on edge until the end. Narrator Mandy Williams has a beautiful, lilting quality to her voice, and she flawlessly voices and captures the emotions of all the characters and projects just the right amount of fear for the more suspenseful parts. Listeners will be charmed and enthralled.—Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY