The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Bookcover Source: Novelist Plus database

Author: Gail Carson Levine

Publisher: Eos (purchased by HarperCollins in 2000)

Annotation:

Princess Addie is 12 years old, and she is shy and fearful. Addie often needs protection from her older sister, Princess Meryl, who is the complete opposite of Addie. All is changed when Meryl catches the deadly plague, the Gray Death.

Determined to save her sister, Addie set out to find the cure to the disease. She travelled and adventured, and with the help of her friend Rhys, she eventually found the cure on Mount Ziriat. Addie's courage satisfied the fairies, who rain enchanted waterfall (from Mount Ziriat) rain all over Bamarre – it cured the Gray Death disease.

Unfortunately, in its beater sweat ending, Meryl did not make it in time. However, the fairies offered to turn Meryl into a fairy. In the end, Addie married Rhys, and Meryl became the Fairy Godmother to their children and grandchildren.

This book was first published in March 2001 and received multiple awards: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature (2002), Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Grades 6-8 (2003). Goodreads gives an overall 4.04/5 rating with more than 2,500 reviews. There are 304 pages of this paperback book.

The author, Gail Carson Levine, received Newbery Honor in 1998 on the second novel she wrote (Ella Enchanted). More of her work can be found at www.gailcarsonlevine.com.

Keywords: Magic, Fairies, Siblings, Friendship, Courageous