Just Ella
By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Book Review by Liza
In Just Ella, a 15-year-old girl is forced to work for her evil stepmother after her father died (sound familiar?). Like every commoner she dreams of going to the ball, meeting Prince Charming, and having a luxurious life in a palace. When she is chosen to marry the prince she finds herself trapped in a cobweb of etiquette, and people trying to force her to be something that she is not. Now Ella must choose between a life of luxuries and riches or happiness. Can Ella choose what is right and live happily ever after?

Ella is a headstrong and determined commoner who loves to read and to be outside. She is very smart, and loves to learn when she

is interested in something. When she has to learn rules and needlepoint at the castle she feels bored and out of place.

Jed, her tutor and best friend, is also very important in this story. He dreams but never really takes action about anything. An example is that he wants to start a refugee shelter, but since the prince won't fund him, he has almost given up.

This book was kind of cheesy because it was all about love and what's right and stuff but it was worth my time to read. All in all I would recommend this book to anyone who likes medieval fiction because the author described everything very well and wrote a story line that really involved the reader in the book. I would definitely not recommend this book to boys because it is a total girl book. I think that the way the author used slang was really fake for a medieval book.

overall rating (out of 5)

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