Not Your Ordinary Princesses

So, I lied. The weather was so beautiful this past weekend, I was able to spend another afternoon on the beach, reading and writing.

This time, my book was Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, or, The Search for a Suitable Princess, by Laurel Snyder. In this semi-fantasy, a milkmaid named Lucy leaves her tiny kingdom of Thistle, hiking into the Scratchy Mountains in search of her absent mother, with only a cow for company. But her best friend Wynston, who's prince of Thistle and is not interested in meeting princesses to marry, isn't far behind. Separately and together, Lucy and Wynston have a number of adventures until everything, as they say, comes out in the wash.

The book is light-hearted, with a timeless feel. There's plenty of humor and tension, but even the darkest moments are not too dark for most young children. It's a story that would appeal to boys as well as girls. I'll be suggesting Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains to families who want a nighttime read-aloud for ages 6 to 10ish.

Catch fun interviews with Laurel Snyder at Big A little a and The Longstockings.

What I liked most about Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, actually, was how much it reminded me of The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye. It was one of my favorite books when I was seven years old and, in fact, helped inspire me to be a writer (though I have never, as Kaye claims to have done, written a book in one sitting, alas). The Ordinary Princess is another light-hearted, timeless story, and it turns fairy tale tropes delightfully on their heads.

In general, I'm more of an anti-princess person. The Disney Princess marketing craze makes me barf in seven shades of pink. As a dad in the library commented to me, he doesn't mind his two-year-old daughter playing princess and requesting princess stories, it's the way princesses have become the face of consumerism.

Disney and traditional fairy tales aside, though, I think the most interesting princess stories are anti-princess stories—the stories where the princesses don't do what they're told and run off and get into lots of trouble. There are probably some good princess stories that deal with diplomacy and whatnot, but I—and probably most kids—would rather have magic and misbehavior.

Here are my favorite anti-princess princesses:

• Amy in The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye
  At Princess Amethyst's christening, an ornery fairy declares she will be ordinary. Amy grows up freckled, messy, and adventurous and, rather than pretend to be something she isn't for another stuffy prince, she runs away to begin a new life as kitchen help in the castle of a neighboring kingdom. Sweet, romantic, and gently humorous, this gem holds up read after read. Suggested for second grade and up.
• Eilonwy in the Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
  Eilonwy is a princess of the lost House of Llyr, and when we first meet her she's cooped up in the fortress of an evil enchantress. Feisty and bold, yet also sensitive and passionate, Eilonwy is never content to sit idly when there are quests to be gone on or battles to be fought. Like Princess Amy, she also moonlights as a scullery maid. Unlike Amy, she carries a huge sword, is a sorceress in training, and kicks serious a$$. Suggested for fourth grade and up.
• Aerin in The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
  Speaking of kicking a$$, how about the chip-on-her-shoulder princess who's sick of being the royal family's magical dud and decides to become a dragon-slayer? Aerin has got to be one of the most infuriatingly bullheaded characters in literature, to the point of doing a lot of really stupid, dangerous things—and you can't help but love her for it. I love this book more every time I read it. Suggested for seventh grade and up.
• Anidori in The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
  After her journey to marry the prince of a neighboring kingdom goes horribly awry, Ani's left with nothing—no possessions, no entourage, not even her name. Don't call her powerless, though. Playing the part of a lowly goose girl, Ani demonstrates true strength as she works to reveal the treachery wrought against both kingdoms. Goose Girl has several fun parallels to The Ordinary Princess, actually, but I don't want to spoil them. Suggested for sixth grade and up.

It occurred to me while writing this how many princess stories ultimately revolve around marriage. A princess doesn't want to marry so-and-so, so she runs away. Or a princess meets her true love, but he's not a prince... or maybe he's a prince in disguise? Etc. So very heteronormative, that royal obsession with heirs. Is there a YA princess book out there in which the princess falls for another princess? If not, it's dying to be written.

Who are your favorite storybook princesses?