Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Publisher:  Graphia
Publish Date:  May 4, 2009
ISBN:  978-0547223254
Pages:  352


Fifteen year old Princess Benevolent (or Ben, as everyone calls her), lives with her parents near the castle.  Her uncle is the King and her dad the Prince.  She's been allowed to be very free and pretty do as she pleases.  As for those willowy princesses with the tiny waists?  Ben isn't one of them - she's a larger sized girl.

The King, along with Ben's parents, make the yearly trek to Ben's grandfather's tomb and that's where the trouble begins.  The King and Ben's mother are killed and her father disappears.

Now Princess Ben must move into the castle with Queen Sophia, whom Ben finds cold and mean.  As Queen Sophia attempts to force Ben into learning a ruler's role, Ben rebels - acting like a spoiled brat until the Queen moves her to new quarters.  The new quarters can only be accessed through the Queen's room.  Within these quarters Ben finally begins to think and learn, even though she ends up in a lot more trouble before she becomes a thoughtful princess.

The story line is cute with an 'evil' guardian, dragons, a handsome prince and magic.

The characters are good in that none of wholly good or bad.  I think that the younger range of YA readers would like the characters better, as there isn't a lot of depth to them.

There's no swearing or sex, but some violence and death.  It's handled well though and doesn't get too descriptive, so it should be fine for our younger YA's.