This sassy Cinderella story centers on 14-year-old Ashley Ella Toral, who has just received an invitation to the biggest bash of the season, a New Millennium's Eve party held at the prestigious Ocean Crest Country Club and hosted by her heartthrob, Trevor Cranston. Thwarting her chance to usher in the year 2000 in style are her two bratty, scheming stepsisters, Paige and Jessica, and Ashley's stepmother, Phyllis, who wants Ashley to baby-sit on the night of the big event. At the same time the unpampered princess is wallowing in self-pity, her unlikely fairy godmother (Phyllis's grandmother) is flying in from Florida to bestow enough gifts, cash and service upon Ashley to make most of her dreams come true. Besides offering plenty of laughs, this updated classic adds much color to characters traditionally painted in black and white. Ashley's stepmother is not evil so much as self-centered and overwrought by financial concerns, and Ashley, virtuous though she is, can be rather testy at times. Jukes has a ball adding new twists to an all-too-familiar plot, and readers will want to get in on the fun, too. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grade 6-8-Yet another retelling of the classic tale, this time set in northern California at the brink of the new millennium. Orphaned Ashley Ella Toral, 14, lives with her stepmother and mannerless, younger twin stepsisters. Her existence is not as bleak as the lives of many of her fabled predecessors-her stepmother, Phyllis, is merely clueless rather than truly malevolent and her stepsisters might remind many readers of their own bratty siblings. The great dilemma of Ashley's fairly benign adolescence revolves around an invitation to a posh New Year's Eve soiree. Trevor, the boy of Ashley's dreams, will be in attendance, and she frets over appropriate attire, limousine fare, and whether she'll have to baby-sit the dreaded twins on the night in question instead of attending the party. The challenge in retelling a classic fairy tale is to bring something fresh to the literary canon. Results are mixed with this particular effort. While the plot suffers from predictability, the characters are compelling in their three-dimensionality. The stepmother is the most entertaining with her atrocious fashion sense, appalling parenting skills, and quixotic displays of good-heartedness. Ashley herself is a complex teenager who is alternately endearing and annoyingly self-centered. Phyllis's Grammie as the mildly lascivious, lottery-winning fairy godmother is probably the least credible and successful. Of course, the story ends happily and perhaps too neatly. A light, humorous confection for girls who haven't outgrown princess stories.
Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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