false 4 0 false false Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 20 14:44:14 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 05:22:44 -0800 2009
Geared towards young readers, this is a wonderful reinvention of Cinderella--complete with glass slippers, fairy godmothers and a prince. That being said, Ella is far from the meek Cinderella. At birth, she is afflicted with a curse that keeps her constantly obedient to anyone's demands. Despite this, she manages to fight ogres, befriend a prince and keep her evil stepsisters at bay. I loved that Ella is an updated role model for young girls; she presents an independent personality and the ending emphasizes how believing in and being yourself is incredibly valuable.

This was a quick read (GoodReads says 240 pages in paperback) and it felt like the proper length. Since the intended audience is fairly young (I'd say 9-12 though GoodReads puts it at 9-14), the text is uncomplicated but not too simplistic.

Audiobook Details:

The reader, Eden Riegel, sounds quite young but does an above average job with the reading. She does voice intonation, though the different voices are not as clearly identifiable as other readers and some even sound quite similar to each other. The reading contains some background music in parts and this is probably my least favorite feature since it reminded me of midi music from the mid-90's. The first few times the music played, I kept looking around the room to see if one of my kids' toys was going off.

Run time--5 hours, 34 minutes
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