Product Description

Wicked stepmother? Check. Evil stepsisters? Check. Miserable life? Check.

Lucy Norton's life has all the makings of a Cinderella story. Her dad's always away on business, leaving Lucy with her cruel stepmother and bratty stepsisters. She's burdened with chores, and has a hard time fitting in at her new school. So when she sees Connor Pearson, the star player on the varsity basketball team, Lucy hopes her destiny has finally changed. With everything else going on in her life, doesn't she at least deserve to get the handsome prince?

Melissa Kantor's enchanting novel proves that sometimes the happy ending isn't quite the one you'd expect. Lucy's about to discover the truth about finding her real Prince Charming. and finding herself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #545307 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Released on: 2007-03-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780786809615
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–Teen readers will relate to Cinderella Lucy Norton's woes. Transplanted from San Francisco to Long Island because of the marriage of her father, who continues to spend working weeks on the West Coast, she grapples with a pseudo-family existence with her step-monster, Mara, and her magpie twin stepsisters. Lucy's dual passions of basketball and art characterize her and help her make connections. Negotiating that minefield of adolescence, the high school cafeteria, she often takes a sandwich to the art room, where she enjoys the kindness of her teacher and meets Sam, a talented but rude artist. An astute remark about basketball gains her the attentions of Connor, the team star and all-around hunk. With his notice come Jessica and Madison, as friends. Lucy enjoys her rapid ride on the social surf, featuring drinking parties, melt-away kisses, even the much-sought-after prom invite, but her home life is still difficult–her stepmother is trying to win some kind of bitch-of-the-year award. To confuse matters, she feels an artistic connection with Sam, whose conversation and interests make Connor seem more ornamental than substantial. While savvy readers will anticipate Lucy's ultimate pairing and improved family relationships, most teens won't be disappointed in the pleasant confection of wit, teen angst, shopping, girl talk, and flirtation. Kantor caters well to the witty-romance, girl-power book market, supplying a worthy offering for many who might not read otherwise.–Suzanne Gordon, Richards Middle School, Lawrenceville, GA
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Customer Reviews

A light-hearted and humorous read
For some teens, high school life isn't exactly easy --- especially when you're "the new kid." Staying silent in class is customary, not making eye contact in the halls is well-advised, and eating alone at the lunch table is a given. For many of these less outgoing newcomers, blending into the background is the safest route to take in order to avoid calling attention to any differences that might stick out or invite judgment from the hipper, trendier, cool crowd. Feeling invisible or lonely is hard to handle in your teenage years, but being the brunt of the in-crowd's ridicule is significantly worse --- it's torture.

When sixteen-year-old Lucy Norton and her newly-remarried father relocate from San Francisco to a posh suburb of Long Island to live with the new stepfamily, Lucy's life is turned upside down. She is friendless, virtually homeless (her new "room" consists of an air-mattress on the floor in an unfurnished basement), and is faced with the difficult challenge of getting along with her two spoiled, teeny-bopper younger stepsisters and her impossibly shallow, constantly redecorating stepmother. On top of that, her once attentive father has no time for her between his weekly trip back to the West Coast for work and his newly acquired "perfect" family. The more time she spends in her new environment, the more Lucy begins to feel like poor, pathetic Cinderella --- overworked, under-appreciated, and hopelessly alone.

As in every quintessential fairy tale, however, Lucy's life suddenly changes for the better. With just one haphazard comment in the lunchroom about sports, she captures the attention of the hottest guy in school (the star of the varsity basketball team, of course), and manages to make two best girlfriends in the process. From that moment on, her life consists of shopping and gabbing with the girls; going to "it" upperclassmen parties; making out with Connor Pearson, her Prom King boyfriend; and working on her self-portrait in the art room while simultaneously chatting up her mysterious and talented, but seriously off-putting classmate, Sam Wolff. Despite constant aggravation from her wicked stepsisters and evil stepmother, Lucy has transformed herself into the most popular chick at school in just a few short weeks, and has packed a social calendar worthy of any classmate's envy. What more could Cinderella ask for?

But, as Prom approaches and Lucy starts to feel like the time spent with Connor consists solely of wandering hands and sports talk, the fairy tale romance that she once believed was possible seems cracked. Could it be that the connection she had hoped to feel with Connor might be better suited with someone thoughtful, intelligent and quirky --- like Sam Wolff? What would everyone say if she broke up with the jock to date the art freak? Would her much sought-after and cool reputation survive if disconnected from the popular group's influence?

With plenty of trendy lingo, girlie gossip, and prom talk to go around, Melissa Kantor's second novel is a lighthearted and humorous read, perfect for fans of The Princess Diaries series. Although a bit predictable at times and maybe a smidgeon too fluffy to satiate some early teens' tastes, IF I HAVE A WICKED STEPMOTHER, WHERE'S MY PRINCE? nonetheless delivers enough fun and charm to make the reading experience a purely enjoyable one.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

Price Charming Is Not What It Seems...
I probobly never would have known this book existed if i hadn't been wondering through a book store in my downtown area. Just looking at book after book is hard, trying to find something cute, but sassy...a good read for a 13 year old girl. I picked up this book and it may have been the sparkly cover that intreged me, but somehow I knew I had to have it. I started reading this book and it seemed pretty good and really funny. As it when on, it got a little boring and predictable. Also, their is some teen drinking in it and some suggestive content probobly a little old for young children. It's an all around good book with a picture perfect ending and a cute novel any pre-teen girl could relate to.

Fun read
This was a satisfactory book with funny dialogue. What I really enjoyed was how I could relate to the character being the new girl in school and the author articulated the awkwardness of not having any friends in a class or not knowing how to join in on a converation well.

The book was a fairy tale. It's one of the things that I didn't really like. Lucy's instant rise from friendless to being best friends with the most popular girls in school and being the girlfriend of the hottest guy is really unrealistic. It just doesn't happen like that in real life. Also the cruelty of her stepmother and her father's refusal to listen to her when they were supposedly very close was a bit strange. When you then add the ending where everything suddenly seems dandy and Lucy goes from toying with the idea of asking her boyfriend to kill her stepmother to hugging her stepmother lovingly, well it's a bit much. Dare I say it was almost too corny for me.
But hey it's supposed to be a kind of a modern day cinderella fairy tale so I shouldn't have have expected realism and it ended happily ever after.
This book was an easy read, it probably took me about 2-3 hours in one sitting to read it. I wouldn't buy it. I got it from the library and enjoyed it to a certain degree but would never want to read it twice.