The Birthday Ball (review)

Five days before her sixteenth birthday—also the day of her unfortunate betrothal to one of three unlikable suitors—Princess Patricia Priscilla plans to engage in some very un-princesslike behavior. Dressed in her serving maid's attire and accompanied by her loyal royal cat, Delicious, Patricia enrolls as "Pat" in the village school, where she quickly befriends several of the peasant children and also manages to fall head over heels for the handsome and kind schoolteacher. As she prepares for her betrothal ball back at the castle, Princess Patricia decides that she would very much like to invite "Pat's" new friends; bucking royal (and fairy tale) tradition, the princess manages to seamlessly integrate her double life, securing a lucrative future for herself and sending those nasty suitors away. The framework is familiar here, but Lowry steers away from clichéd tropes, and instead of a flighty princess trapped in a series of unfortunate events, readers get a headstrong and resourceful heroine clever enough to make her own decisions and guide the story along. Lest this be thought of as a mere princess book, however, there is plenty of grossout humor, with each of the suitors more delightfully disgusting than the last and a spattering of scandalous jokes sure to elicit a few furtive giggles. Feiffer's frenetic lines and distinctive caricatures maintain the offbeat tone while adding a charming quirkiness in their own right. Youngsters who like their fair share of mischief will get a kick out of this fractured fairy tale either on their own or as a readaloud.