Just Ella (The Palace Chronicles)

I figure that the working title for Just Ella was Cinderella: The Day After, because that is pretty much what the story is about. Ella is a plucky orphan living under her step-parents' thumb who makes her own dress and sneaks to Prince Charming's ball where the prince falls in love with her, tracks

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her down, and whisks her away to the palace to be his fairy tale bride. At that point, this book begins.

Ella finds out that transforming from an active commoner into one of the idle nobility (actually, one of the idle female nobility, male nobles seem to be allowed to do things every now and then). She chafes at the enforced inactivity, the needlepoint, the etiquette lessons, and the religious instruction, looking forward only to her brief and boring visits with Prince Charming. At least until her aged religious instructor falls ill and has to be replaced by his far more interesting son. Over the course of much of the book, Ella comes to realize that her fairy tale ending isn't what she truly wanted. Eventually, she tries to break away, but learns that one simply cannot break a royal engagement - some fairly unpleasant pressure is brought to bear on her to relent and agree to marry Charming anyway. That doesn't deter our plucky girl though, she just shoulders on, saving herself from her predicament right up until the ambiguously happy ending.

The story is little more than modern revisionism applied to a traditional fairy tale, but it is reaonably well done revisionism. The only real problem with the book is that Ella is to a certain extent a little too perfect - she is beautiful AND an industrious worker AND improbably well-educated for a sullery maid AND extraordinarily compassionate and on and on. Her list of extensive virtues is coupled with no discernable faults resulting in a character that stretches credulity. On the other hand, this is a book aimed at younger readers, and one that built upon a fairy tale foundation, so this is probably to be expected to a certain extent.

As a side note, even though this is properly tagged "fantasy" (taking place in an undefined alternate world of princes, princesses, castles, carriages and royal balls), there isn't anything magical or fantastical about the story itself. Ella makes her own dress, finagles herself some glass slippers, gets to the ball herself, and has to leave by midnight for an entirely mundane reason. But while there is no direct magical elements to the story, most of the characters around Ella behave as if there should be, and behave with a kind of fairy tale sensibility.

In the end, the central message of the book - that one should be independent and judge others according to their character - is one that is fundamentally benign. This, coupled with decent storytelling makes this a perfect book to hand to a young girl interested in reading about plucky, independent, admirable heroines.

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A real & empowering look at the classic story of Cinderella and its"ever after".

The writing is very much simple & geared toward younger readers, but the message and ideas in the story are absolutely fantastic.

Gives me hope that perhaps some young people might develop ideas of love and life that

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haven't been Disney-fied.

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Just Ella continues the story of Cinderella after the slipper fits. Ella was dazzled by the ball and the handsome prince but life as the bride in waiting is boring. Ella was never a princess but it would not be proper for the world to know that and being proper is what princess should be so she is

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getting a crash course in princess behaviour and dress. Ella struggles to find a real connection with the other people in the castle but she is discouraged until a health emergency brings her a new, young tutor. Ella isn't what Jed expected and he is shaken into answering honestly and meaningfully to her questions.

When Ella starts to chafe at the restrictions of the castle and her new role, her resistance is met with violence and threats. She sees things more clearly and must decide if she will face a reality that is not her lifelong dream but is much more satisfying and true to who she is.

There is a scene where Ella is imprisoned in the care of a rapist troll. He does not rape her but her fear is well described.

I recommended this book to a 12 year old girl, and a classroom library for 4-6th graders.

I recommend other of Margaret Peterson Haddix's books:

Running Out of Time the story of a young girl who finds out that she is part of an historic re-creation of life in colonial times. A mysterious person in control has changed the rules under which the families entered the experiment and children are dying. Jessie must venture out into the current world (1996) and deal with the technology and life of another century.

And the Shadow Children series which is about a future where familes are limited to 2 children and the realities of life for 3rd and 4th children and their families in that culture. Among the Hidden, Among the Imposters, Among the Betrayed, Among the Barons, and Among the Brave.

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A nice book that tells a version of Cinderella. I would recommend this to a young person.

As far as I remember (its been a while since I read the book), this book is very interesting and a great read. I really was intrigued by the fact that its a what happened after the "happily ever after" ending, very imaginative and creative. Not that memorable though...I'm going to have to reread

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this...

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Cute, not wonderful. Ella is a little too flatly drawn - so is Jed, for that matter (it is a kids' book, but still). The ideas are nice. And I'm rather amused by the fact that it sort of quits in the middle (well, the middle of the end), so as not to present her either with a sad future _or_ with

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living happily ever after...maybe she did and maybe she didn't.

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This was probably my most favorite book ever! I got really interested in it when Jed came to the castle. It got really really good when, she decided that she doesn't love the prince, and then she finds out that the prince is only marrying her because he has to get married by his 21st birthday. Just

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imagine working so hard just to get away from your evil Step family, then your father dying, and when you finally win the prince over.... She finds out that her life has become even wors then what it was before. She gets thrown in the dungeon, and then has to dig her way out....! She is so Brave!

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The book " Just ella" is kind of a drama story where this girl named Ella who's a princess knows the values of her life she wants whatever other princess wants meeting her prince charm, getting married and finally live Happily Ever After.The royals try to mold her into destroying ellas happiness

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and they do. Ellas life turns really misarable.In this story Ella dosent have a godmother she has to find a way to her happines, but the question is could she do it? This book has a familiar thing like cinderella but ellas happiness does not have what cinderella had ella has a lot to learn of life and she knows that you have to find your happiness sooner or later. Like any other girl cinderella was older and was just 15-years old.Who ever likes Drama and adventure this book has it because who wouldn't like a great fairy tell and how this one ends no one knows how could this book of just Ella could end i hust say it ends different from others.

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This book is written by one of my favourite authors Margaret Peterson Haddix. Just Ella is a Cinderella fairy tale without the magic, there is no fairy godmother to give her the glass slippers or magically send her to the ball. I think the title indicates that it was just Ella not the magical Ella

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from the fairy tale version and I knew it was going to be interesting before I even opened the book. The plot twists, wit, drama and Ella’s personality, a very strong and powerful woman really makes the book unique to other books/movies telling Cinderella’s story. I found it really interesting that the author made all the things that happened in the book very real and accurate. For example, the announcer at the ball said Cinderella instead of Cinders-Ella her nickname. I am a little disappointed about the ending. I wanted an epilogue, even though the story inferred that it was a happy ending for some reason I still wanted to know about their children, their marriage, their successes and if and when Jed came back. I learned that “Happiness was (is) like beauty—in the eye of the beholder.”

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Great story recommended by my 9 year old niece (thanks A!). It's "what happens next" in the Cinderella story. Great strong heroine who saves herself.

very interesting twist on the cinderella story...

Faster and shorter than a lot of YA's but still very good. An interesting version of Cinderella, where Ella has to learn the difference between infatuation and real love. The cover blurb calls it a coming-of-age story which is very true.I would recommend it.

A more realistic look at what becomes of Cinderella than the traditional "happily ever after". But I like the happily ever after!

Happily never after. Or so it seems at first. Just Ella is a rewritten take on the famous fairy tale Cinderella. Only in this story Ella takes herself to the ball, evading a wicked stepmother and sweeping Prince Charming off his feet without any outside help of the magical or furry little creature

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kind. Once she gets everything she has ever dreamed of, through hard work, cunning and ingenuity it is just to discover that she is just another naive princess after all. The fairy tale she’s worked so hard to achieve is not what it’s cracked up to be.

Just Ella is a great fairy tale showing a heroine who lives the adventure of a prince using quick thinking, problem solving, sly tricks, bravery and sheer nerve to get out of a series of binds in the quest for her happily ever after. Never once does she settle, even when it becomes dangerous to not do so.

I even thought the bit of metaing thrown in was well done, where she actually talks about her situation and the misapprehension everyone is under that she only was able to get there with outside help. She doesn't understand why people would not only think that, no matter how improbable a fairy godmother or talking creatures might be, but that they would prefer it to the reality of an independent female able to achieve her dreams all by herself. This novel tells the more probable story of a female that does just that.

Favorite Quote:
"And yet, I felt a surge of exhilaration just thinking about that night. Not just because I'd met the prince and fallen in love and started on my course toward happiness ever after, but because I'd made something happen. I'd done something everybody had told me I couldn't. I'd changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything."
-Ella

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I have always enjoyed the Cinderella tales - never wanted to be her, but liked the story. This is an interesting take on the classic as Ella isn't the normal simpering princess type. This Ella was a strong female who wasn't afraid of hard work and wasn't afraid to make use of her brain.

There were

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several interesting characters introduced such as Mary, a young servant (reminds me of the mice in the original) and her instructor's son, Jed. I don't want to give the storyline away, but this version of happily-ever-after is much more satisfying to me because Ella gets her head straight and stands up for herself. It's a good, quick read with a much better message for young girls - you don't have to wait for a Prince to save you - do it yourself!

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Muppets used to have “Fractured Fairy Tales”. I almost see this as one of those. It is the “real” story of Cinderella as told by her as she goes to the ball and falls in love with the prince. But, before the wedding takes place she realizes she really isn’t in love with the prince and

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when she refuses to marry him she is put in the dungeon. She manages to escape and find her true love, but during the 6 month wait to give him an answer to his proposal, he realizes that his duty to end the war really has to come before their own personal happiness. I read the “Palace of Mirrors” earlier this spring, and Ella appears in it, but there seems to be a piece missing at the end of the story and a gap between her story and the story of Celia. Overall I liked the book, but I would have ended it differently (or maybe I’ll need to go back and reread Celia’s story and see what happened to Ella).

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This book was pretty cute. I wouldn't say I really liked it, but I did like it. It was a very quick read (even for young adult) but it had an interesting plot. I really enjoyed Haddix's Running Out of Time when I was younger so I figured this was worth a shot. I'm really in the mood for some

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fairytale retelling and this was like an appetizer rather than the main course :] (which I intend to get to soon!)A lot of the information in the book was neat, like the depiction of court life, the activities Prince Charming participated in (hunting etc.) all were very accurate. It was also interesting to hear how Cinderella (or Cinders-Ella) would have pulled off the whole attending the ball, glass slippers scenario without a fairy godmother. This is the case in this story and although it isn't as enchanting it was a bit refreshing.It's certainly no Ella Enchanted, but it was worth a read.

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Great book!!! I loved it! Girly and full of adventure!!!! She gets us into the book and changes us into the charecters.

This is, of course, a Cinderella retelling. Ella has gotten the prince and is in the castle as a princess in training, but she’s finding out that being a princess is boring and tedious, her story has become a far-fetched fairy tale, the prince she’s marrying is not what she’d hoped for, and

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that life is, if anything, worse than before. Now she finds herself in love with someone else and unable to escape. Through her own inginuity she digs out, hides, and makes it to the boy who she really does love and decides to marry.

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(Amy) Light fare, but definitely not without substance. An interesting perspective on the Cinderella tale.

I really wanted to like this. I love tales that are based on or twist fairy tales and Margaret Peterson Haddix is such a prolific teen author, but alot of the time I just felt frustrated when I read it. To me a lot of the characters felt like stereotypes, like they were never fully fleshed out.

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None of the characters ever did anything surprising, I could figure out what was going to happen based on their archetype.

***Spoiler***
I was also a little bothered by the ending. If Jed continues working for the Charmings, how are him and Ella supposed to end up together. I understand that it's important to stop the war; and a big part of the theme of the book was taking responsibility and doing something to change your situation not just being impassive but if felt like the author was setting up an impossible road block for them.
***End Spoiler***

However it wasn't all bad, I did like the way the Charmings chose to handle Cinderella's disapearance. I thought it was funny and I do hope that everyone involved got what they deserve out of the relationship.

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A backwards cinderella story

Honestly, I genuinely liked this. It kind of had a "Mulan" feel to it. Can I say that? Is that such a thing? Anyway, it's a retelling of the Cinderella story we all grew up with, in that CInderella has to come to terms with the fact that her Prince Charming... Not so charming. Instead, he's kind of

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a sluggish lark who does whatever his parents tell him to do. Unintelligent. Meek. Lame-o. Anyway, Ella defies the odds. She bucks the system. No fairy Godmother required. This is a very quick read but a nice respite of a read. It's simple storytelling at its best. It's not life-changing by any means but it is a good afternoon. And we all need that sometimes.

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What happens after the glass slipper fits and Cinderella is whisked away to Prince Charming's palace? In this story, "happily ever after" doesn't seem to be in the cards. Ella, having spent so much time as a servant, is having trouble adjusting to the tight-laced bureaucracy of palace life. Worse,

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her regular meetings with Prince Charming are stilted and awkward, with no one showing any interest in her beyond her beauty. I liked this one. I liked Ella's determination and practicality. I liked the lack of a fairy godmother or any other magical elements. Definitely one to pick up if you like fairy tale retellings.

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