Ella Enchanted by Gail Levine Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ella Enchanted
Book Review: Great retelling of Cinderella
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've not discovered Gail Carson Levine, you've been missing out. This book is great for young adults and the young of heart. Ella Enchanted is a great retelling of Cinderella. Once you begin, you won't want to put the book down until you've finished. Levine uses many inventive literary devices to advance the story and character development. Very imaginative.Book Review: Hidden Messages, by Angela Green
Summary: 5 Stars
Hidden Messages, by Angela Green
Ella Enchanted is a must read for every girl between the ages of 8 and 20. It is one of my personal favorites. The romance, adventure, and excitement get to me every time I pick up the book. Ella is the perfect portrayal of what any girl would want to be. I know I personally wish I could be on her adventures, or fall in love with a guy as great and as perfect as Prince Charmont. What a guy! What a girl! What a book! Ella's personality has everything a girl would want. She's smart, funny, outgoing, brave, and witty. Who wouldn't want to be young, beautiful, smart, and in love? Every time I finish the book I think, "Wow, that book just never gets old!" Gail Carson Levine's descriptions and unique story line keep the reader enthralled from beginning to end. Another great aspect of Ella Enchanted, is it's more than skin deep. When I started thinking about what the author was trying to get across, I realized how many things she put in that were deeper than the visible text. Levine doesn't just teach that "true love conquers all," but she also uses rhetorical devices to teach girls about flaws and attributes through the use of symbolism of size and the placement of emotion during key character development points in the story.
Throughout the book, Levine uses many "small" things, small flaws, that have some of the biggest effects on people. For example, at the beginning of the book, Ella and her mother become very sick. Mandy (the cook and fairy godmother) makes a soup with the hairs of a unicorn in it. It was supposed to make them better, and Mandy told them both to eat the soup and the hairs. Ella did, and the next day she was better. Her mother, on the other hand, "took the hairs out while she ate and put them back in the empty bowl when she was done...the next day...Mother was much worse" (Levine 8). Within a few days, Ella's mother dies. Her flaw? She didn't eat the unicorn hairs. Ella's mother made a small choice, a small flaw, which led to her death. Levine uses this to teach that small flaws can quickly harm us, or in Ella's mother's case, kill us.
Looking at Ella's father quickly brings a perception of how flawed he is. Perhaps the best way this is described is in a scene with his daughter. Ella's father is a tradesman, and at an early point in the book, he shows Ella a beautiful porcelain castle. Ella says that the castle was "no bigger than my two fists" (Levine 29). We later find out that this piece of art was made by elves, and not just any elves, but the students of Agulen who is a famous elf craftsman. Ella wants to know what her father is going to do with it, and his response is, "I sell things. And perhaps I can pass this one off as a genuine Agulen" (Levine 30). Again, we see that Levine is bringing out flaws in characters through the small things that they do. A small porcelain castle leads us to find out that Ella's father is a liar and a thief. Many major flaws in Levine's characters are shown through small almost insignificant events.
While Ella is at boarding school, she manages to make the head mistress angry so that she gets sent to her room without dinner or breakfast the next morning. Ella had already missed lunch and part of breakfast. She was starving. Someone in the story, who barely knew Ella, snuck a small roll up to her (Levine 67). When we, as readers, know so little about this girl, it's interesting that Levine would add in the fact that she brought up a small roll to Ella. The other girls in the boarding school thought this other girl was crazy and strange, because she was from a different country. They wouldn't be friends with her, but before we're introduced to anything like that, we see her kindness to Ella, through a small act. Levine uses this to portray the good qualities in a person. Although the bad things define us, so do the good things.
Another flaw, that happens to be very important, is Ella's feet. When talking with her fairy godmother (Mandy), Ella finds out that she has a drop of fairy blood in her. Mandy says, "Your feet haven't grown for a few years...you'll have fairy feet, like your mother did" (Levine 25). It's interesting to note that later on in the text; Ella's feet become very important. The key point in any Cinderella story is the glass slipper. Ella was the only one who could fit into the slipper, because she had small enough feet. Levine's use of size in this case states that some flaws at times are good, because they distinguish us from the next person. Isn't that the best lesson for a teenage girl? It doesn't matter if your feet are big, or your nose is flat, or whatever may make you different from the girl next to you. The important thing is that it is these differences that help every prince find his princess. On the other hand, the small flaws with Ella's parents show the opposite affect. Levine uses these small flaws with Ella's parents to teach teenage girls that the small things in life do matter. They can help others (as in the case of the girl at the boarding school who brought Ella a roll), or they can hurt others (as in the case of Ella's parents). They are what define who we are.
On a separate note, Levine also teaches girls a lot about emotions and how they play a role in life. The biggest in the book is the trend of being able to cry. When Ella cried when she was born, a foolish fairy that was there to give her a blessing, blessed her with obedience (Levine 3). This was Ella's first and biggest turning point in her life. The fairy saw Ella's crying as a flaw in Ella's life, when in reality, it was okay that Ella was crying. Crying for no reason is not a bad thing, and Levine's trying to show girls that without Ella crying at this point, her life would have been completely different.
Lucinda (the foolish fairy), later was challenged to try to be obedient for a time, to see what it would be like. She accepted the challenge, and when she talked about it, the ironic thing, was she was crying (Levine 193). It's interesting that Levine has Lucinda, the person who cursed Ella because she was crying, cry. Lucinda's tears came at a time when she had an inner change. She would never be the same, and she was crying for it. Are teenage girls constantly changing and realizing mistakes or wishing they were better? Yes, and Levine uses this scene to tell girls it's okay to cry.
When Prince Charmont asks Ella to be his wife, Ella cries. Not out of joy, but because she knows she will have to give him up (Levine 225). Part of the reason is her curse. At this point in the story, Ella is about to end her curse. I would be crying to, but it's interesting that Levine saw the importance of adding and describing Ella's crying. "The tears streaming down my face were acid, burning my cheeks" (Levine 225). Why would Levine want to add Ella crying? It makes perfect sense. Ella's curse was put on her because of her tears, and she breaks her curse while crying. These were times when Ella was making a change in her life, whether for good or bad. She cried, just like any other girl would.
Levine uses crying in the story in three different ways. Tears of joy, misery, and just to cry. So what? Girls cry a lot, but I think Levine is showing these things so that she can hint at girls, that it's okay to cry. Lame? Not for a teenage girl in distress, who wants to be told that she can cry her eyes out.
Levine teaches us throughout the book in ways that are barely noticeable. The symbol of size, especially small sizes, tells us so much about who people are. To an audience of girls at an age where everything matters in a very dramatic sense, Levine chooses to teach girls that it is the small things that are really going to define who and what we are whether for good or bad. Her other hidden message? Girls can cry and it's okay! Who better to hear that then a group of teenage girls? In a world where it's sometimes awkward to cry, Levine shows three different reasons to cry, that were placed in the story at key times in the character's development. When girls are trying to develop their character, why not let them know that it's okay to cry along the way? It's these little hidden symbols and placement of emotions that really help make Ella Enchanted an amazing book that you'll want to read again and again. That's what makes this such a unique and wonderful story. There are the big messages that hit us in the face while we're reading it, along with all of the small lessons, which really define this story.
Book Review: I Love Happy Endings...
Summary: 4 Stars
So, call me sappy.
This is an excellent re-telling of an age-old tale. Strong female characters and excellent writing. The prince has a brain (so many princes just don't - it's so sad.) and the fairy godmother has an unusual moral compass. Other characters are humorous and intriguing - orgres that eat humans and ponies, fairies that are a bit mad... all make this story interesting AND funny.
The happy ending adds to my pleasure!
Book Review: I loved this book
Summary: 4 Stars
Ella Enchanted is about a girl named Ella and at birth she got put under a spell that for her whole life she would be obedient. Although Ellas father was out of town one told him about the Enchantment. Only Ella, Ellas mother, a maid and Lucinda the Witch. Everyone who was there knew. Although witches are suposed to keep from people knowing that they're witches. Lucinda wants people to know. In this story the mother who was the onle parent that stayed at home with Ella died. The father got fired from his job because of selling things to the elfes that wern't his. So Ellas family was starting to lose money. So the father decided to get married to a horrid woman with two daughters that were spoiled brats. But the only reason the father got married to this beast is because she is rich. The longer the sisters lived with Ella the more they started to learn about her the more they learned the closer they learned about the Enchantment. So the sisters would boss her around. But Ella would work around the orders.While Ella is doing this she was also trying to break the spell.Book Review: Much better than the old Cinderella story!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, "Ella Enchanted" is an all new version of the old Cinderella. I like the charactors, especially the once wicked Lucinda, where she blessed newly wed couples or new born babies with curses she called gifts. And the fact that Ella has to obey every thing other people said is just so cool! When I read that Hattie wore a wig and then Ella ran off with it, it was SO funny! I also like the language Gnomic and would like to learn it well!