Janessa's Reviews > Ella Enchanted

This book gets five huge, shiny stars because of the following conversation I had with my 12 year old today:

"Mom, Kate (name changed) was teasing me at school today, but I don't think it was friendly teasing. I think it was mean."

"It probably was mean." (We've had a lot of problems with Kate bossing and teasing lately, but my daughter is always anxious to give Kate the benefit of the doubt).

After a moment's thought, my daughter said, "It's like Ella Enchanted - how she has to listen to mean people and do what they say. Only I don't have to listen to Kate or do what she says because I don't have a spell cast on me like Ella does. I'm not going to listen to Kate anymore. I'll still be nice, but I'm going to step back."

Thank you, Gail Carson Levine, for crafting an empowering story for girls, and for helping my daughter see, through the lens of Ella's experiences, that always trying to conform to others can be like living with a curse.