Ogre Enchanted

July 15, 2018
When 15-year-old healer Evie rejects her best friend's marriage proposal in front of the fairy Lucinda, she unknowingly sets off a kingdomwide chain of events that will shape the course of Kyrrian history. To punish Evie for rejecting an "exemplary" suitor, Lucinda transforms her into an ogre and decrees that she must accept a proposal within 62 days or remain an ogre forever. Ogres are hated and feared by Kyrrians: hairy, short-tempered, odoriferous, and magically persuasive, they eat humans and livestock with equal zeal. Hoping to learn persuasion in order to obtain a proposal, Evie joins a band of ogres and promptly falls for their human captive: a silver-tongued merchant named Peter. But will he propose? Though her time with the band is limited, her first-person narrative style meticulously notes her observations ("ogre hands are blink fast," and "the ogre heart has a triple beat"). A chance encounter soon draws Evie back to human civilization. Even though she ministers to plague-stricken humans honorably, she faces suspicion and hostility, but she also gains loyal friends and learns valuable lessons about love. Levine references the Portuguese fairy tale "The False Prince and the True" and "Beauty and the Beast" to explore social prejudice, although Evie's experiences as an ogre ultimately seem to reinforce how different she is more than they encourage solidarity. The book assumes a white default.Longtime fans and new readers alike will devour this. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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August 1, 2018
Grades 4-7 Evie only has one thing on her mind, and that's healing the sick. She isn't expecting her friend Wormy to propose to her, and of course she turns him down. But that answer isn't good enough for Lucinda, the meddling fairy who likes to attend special occasions and give terrible gifts. Outraged at Evie's lack of romantic spirit, she turns her into an ogre and gives her 62 days to accept another proposal?or remain an ogre forever. Undaunted, practical Evie sets to learn what she can from other ogres and then returns to the world of men, where she becomes entangled in a political plot. But her clock is winding down, and every day she doesn't find true love brings her closer to life as an ogre. This prequel to the Newbery Honor Book Ella Enchanted? (1997) is a clever, lighthearted spin on Beauty and the Beast that features a heroine more than capable of choosing her own path. Readers new and old to Levine's world will find much to love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2018
Characters from Levine's Newbery Honor-winning Ella Enchanted (rev. 5/97) appear in this companion prequel, but this book's protagonist is Evie, a fifteen-year-old healer who is turned into an ogre by the fairy Lucinda after a misunderstanding about a gag marriage proposal. Lucinda gives Evie sixty-two days to gain (and accept) another proposal before she is stuck as an ogre forever, so Evie sets out to meet other ogres and learn how they zEEn, or magically persuade others, now her only hope for finding a new suitor in time. As the deadline nears, she makes her way to the king's castle, where she uses her healing skills to stop an epidemic and develops both allies and enemies among the court, while also trying to understand what love is and how she can marry while remaining true to herself. Levine does an excellent job of getting into the mind of an ogre (Evie is overwhelmed by a sudden aversion to vegetables in all forms), and although the plot strands are many, she brings them together for a satisfying resolution. Readers new to fantasy may find the deliberate quirkiness in spelling and terminology off-putting, but Evie's strong personality and the book's earthy humor (dragon urine turns out to be a miracle cure, but not everyone is a fan) more than make up for it. sarah rettger

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
In this companion prequel to Newbery Honorwinning Ella Enchanted, fifteen-year-old healer Evie is turned into an ogre by a fairy and has sixty-two days to undo the transformation before she is stuck that way forever. Levine does an excellent job of getting into the mind of an ogre, and although the plot strands are many, she brings them together for a satisfying resolution.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)