If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s my Prince?
By Melissa Kantor


“You know what Prince Charming isn’t supposed to do? He isn’t supposed to puke all over Cinderella’s boots. I cleaned Connor’s vomit off the leather, helped him climb into Kathryn Ford’s car, and sat behind him while he slept, snoring heavily, but I wasn’t finding him as charming as I usually did. In fact, I wasn’t finding him charming at all.”


Lucy Norton is living the life of Cinderella – her father (not dead, the only significant difference that she can find between herself and the fictional princess) married Mara, the Wicked Witch of Long Island, and Lucy was forced to move across the country to live with her stepmother and two evil stepsisters. Her father is away on business during the week, so Lucy spends all of her time under Mara’s dictatorship. She lives in the unfurnished basement and has to do everything her stepmother and little sisters command. She’s the New Girl (again) at school, and still hasn’t managed to make any friends. She’s living Cinderella’s life to a T – just a couple decades later. The only thing she’s missing is her Prince Charming.


She finds him suddenly in the form of Connor Pearson, senior star of the basketball team and school hottie. She manages to get onto his radar because of her basketball knowledge, and a whirlwind romance quickly begins. Lucy soon finds, however, that Connor may not really be the Prince she’s been waiting for; he’s sweet, but they only thing they really have in common is basketball… and she feels more like a party trick than a girlfriend most of the time.


If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s my Prince? was a really cute book. It’s definitely aimed at eighth through eleventh graders; the language is mild and the themes are common in high school novels. I liked it enough to buy it, and I only buy books that I think are worth the money. I would recommend this to any girl looking for a simple, relatable book. Melissa Kantor is a fantastic writer – she has a way with words that make a tired theme seem new and interesting.


I GIVE THIS BOOK FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS