Comments for Born to Rule

Born to Rule: 01/15/14

Born to Rule by Kathryn Lasky is the first of the Camp Princess books. Camp Princess is a "summer" camp where princesses go for holidays. Princesses are grouped into different turrets and there is campwide competition.

I put summer in quotes because the enchanted forest has its own ideas of what seasons should come when and for how long, making the scheduling of certain events problematic (but not impossible).

Alicia, the focus of the book (though I would argue there isn't a clear protagonist in this ensemble) believes her turret is haunted. She's also having trouble with the song bird competition. Actually, most every princess in her group, are having one problem or another with certain activities, and that's what makes the book so much fun.

Rather than this being a book filled with homogenous princesses, except for the lead, who is either a diamond in the rough, or some sort of oddball, the camp is populated with wide ranging cultures and personalities. Although the camp director and her staff try to mould these princesses into one pre-conceived ideal, none of the major characters fall into this trap beyond what is needed for the on-going competition.

While the plot is a pretty typical summer camp tween book, the fantasy and world building make it something special. I found it humorous and charming.

Five Stars

Comments (0)