ella enchanted book by gail carson levine

The story continues with twists and turns and a growing friendship between Ella and Prince Char that I could detail endlessly, but I want you to be surprised by the story, the resolution of which is very satisfying.

Mystified as to why anyone would not want the gift of obedience, Lucinda tells Ella that she should be 'happy to be blessed with such a lovely quality.' This almost does Ella in when she is compelled to obey Lucinda's words, until Mandy commands her not to be happy about her gift. This serves her well on her journey, which includes being captured by Ogres, whom she enchants with her command of their language and attnding a giant's wedding where she finds Lucinda. While at school, she studies Ogrese, Kyrrian, Elfian and Ayorthian, the language of her new friend, Areida, all of which are spoken in the book.

Ella has a gift for languages, which she exhibits when she rescues a gnome child from an ogre by speaking gnomish. While the book doesn't help her track down Lucinda, it does help her to feel connected to those she loves and stay one step ahead of her scheming stepsisters and father who plans to marry her off to the richest, oldest Duke he can find. With the magical book of fairy tales given to her by Mandy, Ella can read the correspondence of others as well as glimpse bits of their lives. Ever After with Drew Barrymore was more in the spirit of the book than the movie version of it was, although Hugh Dancy as Prince Char was a tad more attractive than Dougray Scott as Prince Henry in Ever After. Although I have tried to block any memories of the movie version of this book from my mind, I do seem to remember that it was turned into a silly, frolicksome romp that had nothing of the spirit of the book and added some overly mature teenage bits in an effort to attract a larger audience. And, while I feel like Gail Carson Levine has yet to match the wonder of Ella Enchanted with any of her other books, of which there are several, this book remains a shining example of great writing in the young adult fantasy genre.

Of course, comparing the two is like apples and oranges, but both authors express great talent in creating whole new vividly drawn, magical universes complete with different creatures with their own languages and cultures. This was a bit after the Harry Potter juggernaut got rolling and I remember telling people (and I still do) that, after Rowling's series, Ella Enchanted, winner of the Newbery Honor, is my favorite book. I first read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine more than ten years ago and fell in love with it instantly.

Ella enchanted book by gail carson levine