The Birthday Ball

The Birthday Ball

Lois Lowry's take on the Prince and the Pauper story is filled with wild hijinks and laugh-out-loud humor. Princess Patricia is just absolutely bored with her princess-y life; not only that, she's expected to chose a suitor at her 16th birthday ball (making it even worse is that the neighboring principalities have not produced any princes worth getting excited over). Longing to experience the "quaint" life of the peasantry, she switches places with her humble chambermaid. Lo and behold, she finds herself falling for the handsome schoolteacher at the village school. Most unfortunate, for she must marry someone of noble blood. Oh, what to do?

Although centered around princes and wooing and suitors, there's nothing in here that's overly romantic. Everything is quite silly and some of the humor is actually toilet-humor (nothing terribly yucky); if a boy had to read this for a class assignment, he may object at first, but would probably get pulled into the craziness and humor.

After reading and rereading a ton of historical fiction and nonfiction for Jefferson Cup, this was the perfect book to fall into! Lois Lowry is a favorite, and this is a welcome treat.