Clean Fantasy Romances for Growing Girls

For years, I waited for my kids to be old enough to appreciate Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I would pull it off the shelf now and then and consider it for our next read-aloud, but the right time hadn't arrived.

Until recently. We just finished reading this wonderful book last week.



My patience paid off. Both Bubs (8) and Welly-Bells (6) thoroughly enjoyed it, but Welly was absolutely triumphant as the sweet little romance wrapped up. Giddy even.  :) She pranced around a lot and giggled a little...and I thought, Oh Boy! My little girl is growing up.

I told her that she comes from a long line of love. Couples that are madly in love for life and beyond.

I certainly haven't grown out of sweet little romances like The Princess Academy. I'm still a sucker for a good, clean fairy tale.

That got me thinking about all the other wonderful fantasy romances that I'll be able to share with her over the years. Can't wait!

Gail Carson Levine's:

Ella Enchanted

and Fairest

Shannon Hale's:

Book of a Thousand Days

and The Goose Girl series

Jessica Day George's:

Dragon Slippers
series

and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Robin McKinley's:

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast

Julie Berry's:

The Amaranth Enchantment

and Secondhand Charm

Martine Leavitt's:

Keturah and Lord Death

E.D. Baker's:

The Wide-Awake Princess



These books vary in maturity, but I consider them all Deliciously Clean Reads. What books would you add to the list???

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. 2006.

Keturah followed a hart from her small town into the forest. When exhaustion overwhelmed Keturah, Lord Death came to take her away. But Keturah was not ready to die. She told a story about how she yearned for true love. Bargaining with Lord Death, she asked for one more day to live. At the end of the day, she'd tell the end to her story. Lord Death gave her one day. If, in that day, she found her true love, she would not have to return to the forest and Death.


Thus begins Keturah's search for love. Will it be the gardener? Royalty? Choirmaster? Or Death Personified?


Keturah and Lord Death was a joy to read. It sounds like a dark premise, but the story is actually fun and rather light-hearted. It is truly clever, unique, and compelling. Highly recommended for lovers of YA fantasy romances...like me. This book is totally and completely clean (YAY!) and was a National Book Award Finalist.


Review by me, Emily
www.whimsybooks.livejournal.com/

PS. If you're interested, I posted notes from Martine Leavitt's workshop entitled How Not to Write a Boring Story at Whimsy Books today.