In this variation on the Sleeping Beauty story, the characters prove sympathetic and the setting romantic, but the lack of tension makes for a slow read. As in the well-known tale, Aurore's christening results in a curse that she will die at 17, mitigated by another gift that says she will instead sleep for one hundred years. The plodding first half concerns how Aurore breaks away from her mother's protectiveness and ventures out into the kingdom. Although her father had named his nephew Oswald as his heir before Aurore was born, the king changes his mind once he sees his daughter's love for her people. Hints abound that Oswald might seek revenge but, in fact, he and 16-year-old Aurore fall for each other. Before the romance can develop, she must leave the castle, lest the curse on her harm the kingdom. The pace picks up a bit as she enters a magical, forbidden forest and meets Ironheart, a young prince on a quest—to kiss a princess who has been sleeping for a hundred years. More hints suggest Aurore and Ironheart will fall in love, but a plot twist supplies a different ending. Told in a first-person voice, the narrative struggles between a chatty, modern tone far too full of parenthetical phrases, and a stronger, more traditional voice that emerges in the second half. Readers will find more satisfaction in Gail Carson Levine's light-hearted Princess Tales series or the more complex fairy tale retellings by Donna Napoli. (Fiction 12+)

Gr 6-10-Dokey has taken the familiar "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale and turned it into a fantastical romance guided by adventure and magic with humor and wordplay thrown in for good measure. Overjoyed to be parents, the king and queen forget to invite one of the aunts to the baby's christening. Angered by their thoughtlessness, she curses the child to a certain death-by-pricking at age 16. So begins the tale of Aurore, a beautiful, strong-willed, ill-fated princess. Wary of her destined future, her parents coddle her throughout childhood. When she turns 16 and does not die, the kingdom is beset by strange happenings, and Aurore leaves in order to save it. She sneaks off to La Foret, the forbidden forest, where she meets young Prince Ironheart, nicknamed Charming. Time becomes wobbly at this point, and readers are taken further into a tangle of fantasy and magic. Of course Aurore is the princess that Ironheart has come to rescue. When she finally does prick herself with a needle, the sleep is only moments long-or is it? The characters are realistically drawn, especially Aurore, who, as narrator, is chatty, witty, and easy to like. Though the sequence of events in the forest is somewhat confusing, and the surprise ending wraps up rather quickly, this is an enjoyable read for mature fans of fairy tales.-Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Hillsboro, OR Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.