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The Princess and the Goblin
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Young Adult > The Princess and the Goblin

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message 1: by Capn (last edited Feb 03, 2022 06:43AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Capn | 81 comments Mod
NOT a "young adult" novel per se, but DIFFICULT for a middle grade audience due to very old fashioned, Victorian English!

A good recommendation for the fantasy lover - I read this as an adult because I heard that Tolkien had been inspired by it. And I adored it.

You can buy The Princess and the Goblin alone or in combination with its sequel, The Princess and Curdie. Both are still in print, but might also be available for free download on ProjectGutenberg, since they are over 100 years old.

The associated gift this time is a fire opal ring. I have bought two different ones from Etsy, both in simple gold-coloured settings, one a pinky coloured glass 'stone' with firey refractive inclusions inside, the other an actual white firey opal. Neither were very expensive, and the actual opal is probably lab-produced, but both were gifts for little girls (and both were rings I liked enough to wear myself).

While this story is very old fashioned, the princess plays a pretty independent role, and the mysterious, wisened elder is a woman, so I feel pretty good about this in terms of gender-representation. It's just a little too tough to read on your own, as it is now very, very old. You could certainly read it aloud to a younger audience (I'd say ages eight and up?), if a patient listener, and if you don't mind doing some on-the-fly translation.

As such, you can get some pretty interesting and old copies online, which I think only adds to the cachet.


Capn | 81 comments Mod
I have uploaded a photo for this one, showing one of my favourite vintage paperbacks (I now own two!). I bought a new print which contains the sequel, The Princess and Curdie, as well, as a gift. But it really lacked a lot of the charm and mystery of the older paperbacks.

Also, this book is a real antique (>100 years old), and as such, is available for free on ProjectGutenberg as an .epub or .html file, or several other options.

So if you are giving it as a gift to someone, you can just send the file and save money towards the ring that Princess Irene is given. ;)


message 3: by Cheryl (last edited Nov 12, 2023 12:25PM) (new) - added it

Cheryl (cherylllr) One of my favorite books. Interesting idea about the ring. My thought is a very lightweight silvery-gray scarf, to represent the silk-like thread that helps the children get out of the tunnels.


Capn | 81 comments Mod
YES! :D Love it!!!!

Oh man, I have to reread this! :)


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