Bella at Midnight

Divided into three "books". Each character uses a chapter to tell his/her side of the story.

Cute reading as a fractured reading...believable? no, fun? yes

Bella at Midnight is the story of a girl, who is shunned by her knight father after her mother's death, and sent to be raised by peasants. There she befriends Prince Julian, who as the grow scorns her for being a peasant. She is later brought back into her father's house when she is older, but

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hates it there. In the end, she rescues not only her prince, but her country, another country, and one of her step-sisters. The story combines many classic elements from fairy tales, nobility as a peaseant, wicked step-family, magic rings, glass slippers, and the Worthy Knight. The story is set in a medieval world and all of the elements fit into the world. The story follows the struggles of Bella, but isn't just told through her voice. Stanley uses other characters to tell the story and manages to keep the reader from being confused. The story is easily followed and ends in the way just about every fantasy does, "Happily Ever After". Bella is a stereotypical modern fairy tale heroine. She is perfect in just about ever way, never hates anyone or is mean to any one, and is will to die to save the people she loves. I would recommend this book to a 4th grader or higher. It is a good fantasy book for anyone who likes to see a heroine instead of a hero.

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I'm in the process of reading as many of the Georgia Children's Book Award nominees as I can, and this was about the 6th or 7th I've read. This version of Cinderella gave some interesting backstory for the evil stepmother and her daughters. I have to agree with the reviewers who said the multiple

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perspectives got confusing sometimes, but the voices sounded too similar as well. I did appreciate the social commentary about the dishonor of starting an unjustified war. Was this aimed at anyone we could name? Who knows?

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Combining elements of Cinderella and Shakespeare, Diane Stanley's Bella at Midnight tells the story of young Bella, abandoned by her father, a knight, after her mother's death. Bella is surrendered to a surrogate family who raises her as their own in a family far lower on the social ladder than her

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real family. So Bella never learns to read or write or sit like a proper lady. Her family loves her and she is raised to be good and kind and honest.

Until one day her cold and somewhat disturbed father remarries and decides he wants her back. Bella's life is shaken up as she is transplanted into another family different from her own and where no one seems to really want her there. But when a war plot is discovered and Bella is the only one willing to stop it, she will leave behind everyone she knows to try make things right.

I enjoyed Stanley's novel for what it was. There was no over the top drama or huge earth shattering conflict. Everything resolves itself quickly and in a manner that allows good to always satisfyingly triumph over evil. It was a very pretty, catchy book with simple, pleasing characters who, if not exactly full of depth, are at least fun to be around for the duration of this quickly read novel.

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I adored this book. I feel like I need to study it to see how she managed to make it so wonderful—I realize at least half of what makes it so good are the voices of the different characters, but how did she do that, make the likeable ones so likeable and the unlikeable ones still interesting and

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compelling? The voices are all different and yet there’s still an overall unifying quality to the tone/feel of the book as a whole.

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Bella At Midnight by Diane Stanley is another Cinderella story. It is about a girl named Bella who loses her mother. Then her father abandons her and she is forced to grow up in a foster home with a family that is poor. Although they are poor they are very nice and raise Bella properly. After some

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time, Bella’s father remarries and decides he wants Bella to come live with his new family. Obviously, as the Cinderella classic goes, the new family does not want Bella there. The new family treats her very poorly. Then, when a war breaks out, Bella decides to try and stop it. This was a very interesting take on Cinderella. I think I prefer the Disney Classic. The website I attached has lesson plans related to Cinderella and fairy tales.

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Bella at Midnight is the story of a girl, who is shunned by her knight father after her mother's death, and sent to be raised by peasants. There she befriends Prince Julian, who as the grow scorns her for being a peasant. She is later brought back into her father's house when she is older, but

Show More

hates it there. In the end, she rescues not only her prince, but her country, another country, and one of her step-sisters. The story combines many classic elements from fairy tales, nobility as a peaseant, wicked step-family, magic rings, glass slippers, and the Worthy Knight. The story is set in a medieval world and all of the elements fit into the world. The story follows the struggles of Bella, but isn't just told through her voice. Stanley uses other characters to tell the story and manages to keep the reader from being confused. The story is easily followed and ends in the way just about every fantasy does, "Happily Ever After". Bella is a stereotypical modern fairy tale heroine. She is perfect in just about ever way, never hates anyone or is mean to any one, and is will to die to save the people she loves. I would recommend this book to a 4th grader or higher. It is a good fantasy book for anyone who likes to see a heroine instead of a hero.

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Bella at Midnight is a fictional book about a young girl who is born to a crazy father. Her mother dies during childbirth and Bella's father blames her for the death of her mother. The girl is taken away as a foster child and lives as a peasant. She falls in love with a boy but he is taken away as

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part of a peace treaty. At this same time, Bella's father requests that she come back to live with him and his new wife and her daughters. Bella misses the life she lived as a peasant where she was loved. This book is a good choice because it is the appropriate length for students this age and it can also be used for comparing and contrasting because it is very similar to Cinderella.

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In this fractured fairy tale we follow Bella through her magical life. Born to royalty, Bella is sent to live with her wet-nurse but the events that follow show us that when Bella finally returns to her fathers' house, how she is not welcomed. This tale brings together the equal partnerships we

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expect of romantic relationships together with a better backstory to how her stepmother is such a wicked woman. Taking cues from Joan of Arc and other magical events, Bella's adventures lead her to her Prince and the happily ever after. This chapter book is an enticing story for those interested in new takes on fairy tales.

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Too much of a mish-mash of different fairy tales and character backstory. Part way through I started thinking that the bindery has accidentally inserted signatures from a different book, except the design was the same; eventually the story came together but it was very forced.

Sort of another twist on Cinderella. Good for a students to check out a twist of the story, that they probably already know.