This sequel to The Princess in Black (2014) finds Magnolia preparing for her birthday party. The castle is festooned with pink balloons, she's wearing her favorite fluffy dress and glass slippers, the pink frosted cupcakes are ready, and the invited princess guests are all en route. Then the monster alarm sounds, sending Magnolia into "Princess in Black" mode. She changes clothes; mounts her faithful pony, Blacky (aka Frimplepants the unicorn); and rides off to defeat a tentacled monster threatening her friend Duff's goats. Eventually, the party resumes, but the monsters repeatedly interrupt, resulting in an out-of-breath heroine, clothing askew, attempting to explain her absences to the none-too-clever guests. Pham's Disney-esque illustrations work nicely to contrast the simplistically perfect party guests with the multidimensional and multitalented PIB. Particularly effective are Magnolia's hilarious eye rolls as she rushes from crisis to crisis, becoming more and more disheveled. Keeping the world safe from monsters is a daunting task. And only the PIB can accomplish this while throwing the perfect party! Expect high demand.

K-Gr 3 Everyone's favorite princess-cum-superhero returns to defend her kingdom in Shannon and Dean Hale's follow-up to the hit Princess in Black (Candlewick, 2014). The charming Princess Magnolia prepares for her birthday party by frosting cupcakes, decorating the house, and even festooning her trusty steed, Frimplepants, with a bow on his unicorn horn (albeit a fake horn, as readers will likely remember that he sheds it to become Blacky). As she excitedly awaits her guests12 sparkly attired and ethnically diverse princesses riding on various animalsher monster alarm sounds. Donning her ninja-esque, kingdom-saving outfit, she narrowly escapes detection by partygoers before vanquishing hungry goat-eating monsters, returning just in time to welcome her fellow royal friends through the castle gates. But before she can settle in for tea and open her presents, Magnolia's monster alarm blares again. And so begins a comical back-and-forth as Magnolia tries desperately to keep her never-ending monster battling under wraps while keeping her princess pals in the dark about her true identity. The delightfully awkward Princess Sneezewort suspects something is up, as each time Magnolia returns, something about her is slightly amiss—shoes on the wrong feet, branches in her hair, an inside-out dress. When the Princess in Black loses her cool with the umpteenth monster emergency, will her cover be blown? VERDICT Princess and adventure fans alike will clamor for an invite to this not-so-perfect but oh-so-entertaining party.— Amy M. Laughlin, Darien Library, CT