It S A Pain To Be A Princess

A story in bright, musical verse that transmits values such as equality and having the courage to follow your dreams. Guided Reading Level: M, Lexile Level: 930L

Carolyn Gage is one of our most courageous and innovative writers to come of age inside the lesbian feminist movement of our time. Throughout her prolific career, Gage has given voice to women missing or misrepresented in the literary canon. Whether a lesbian Joan of Arc regretting her service to the king or a Harriet Tubman arguing with her therapist, Gage's women startle us not only because they are unfamiliar, but because they ring so true. In The Princess of Pain, Gage once again lures us past our threshold of comfort as we journey through the interior landscape of a woman suffering with irremediable pain. Under the magic of Gage's crystalline prose and Sudie Rakusin's resonant illustrations, any residue impulses to blame or otherwise distance ourselves from human suffering are exposed as base and cruel when set beside Princess' heroic, clear-eyed refusal of false palliatives. -Patricia Morgne Cramer, co-editor Virginia Woolf: Lesbian Readings In Carolyn Gage's The Princess of Pain we go on a moving journey of discovery with a woman tortured by constant pain. She takes us along in her wheelchair, seeking peace, answers, and an end to her pain, as she visits goddesses from around the world. The goddesses, lusciously illustrated by Sudie Rakusin and richly described by Gage, provide the princess with many beautiful and terrifying truths. The Princess of Pain delves deep into myth and story in gorgeous detail, leading the reader and the princess to recognize our incredible purpose, showing us how to name it, and to take into our hands the mystery of ourselves and our universe in acceptance. - Jen Rouse, author of Cake The Princess of Pain is deceptively simple and universally human. Gage's story engages the heart and mind, pulling the reader forward with hope and desire. Rakusin's illustrations absorb the reader-this is not a story you merely dip a toe in; it is full-bodied, immersive. Part-metaphor, part-hero's journey, it remains entirely original. It is a necessary story teaching necessary lessons that somehow avoids preachiness and moralizing. We find our way into the Princess' heart and see the hope in her apparent pessimism. - Hilary Brown, author of When She Woke She Was an Open Field

From Amanda Lovelace, a poetry collection in four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. The first three sections piece together the life of the author while the final section serves as a note to the reader. This moving book explores love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspiration. the princess saves herself in this one is the first book in the "women are some kind of magic" series.

These 30 true stories of take-charge princesses from around the world and throughout history offer a different kind of bedtime story . . . Pop history meets a funny, feminist point-of-view in these illustrated tales of “royal terrors who make modern gossip queens seem as demure as Snow White” (New York Post). You think you know her story. You’ve read the Brothers Grimm, you’ve watched the Disney cartoons, and you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But real princesses didn’t always get happy endings—and had very little in common with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, or Ariel. Featuring illustrations by Wicked cover artist, Douglas Smith, Princesses Behaving Badly tells the true stories of famous (Marie Antoinette; Lucrezia Borgia)—and some not-so-famous—princesses throughout history and around the world, including: • Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe, a Nazi spy. • Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who slept wearing a mask of raw veal. • Princess Olga of Kiev, who slaughtered her way to sainthood. • Princess Lakshmibai, who waged war on the battlefield with her toddler strapped to her back. Some were villains, some were heroes, some were just plain crazy. But none of these princesses felt constrained to our notions of “lady-like” behavior.

In his previous life, Shu Qing, as the direct daughter of the Prime Minister, was sent to a suburban manor and only returned at the age of 15. Since the day she returned to the residence, she wrongly trusted the evildoers. Her life was always in the calculations of others! She had no talent or virtue, was vulgar, unchaste, and sold her country to the common enemy. When a basin of sewage was poured onto her body, she actually fell to the point of dying a horrible death without anyone taking her corpse away! Fortunately, the heavens had the eyes to let her live a new life, and return to before she married the ungrateful one! However, her reputation had long been completely ruined by her vicious stepmother and little sister Shu. She was already the laughing stock of the entire capital! If she wanted revenge, she still had to take it step by step ... In her previous life, she would never let anyone who bullied her get away with torturing her. She swore to let those people taste the pain that was inflicted on her body.

After years of violent battles, Kalliopee agrees to sacrifice her freedom by marrying the prince of the enemy kingdom in order to bring peace. In a world where women are treated as slaves rather than wives, she is still delighted to be reunited with her first love, Karel. However, life is unpredictable, and the horrors of war have transformed Karel into a tough and ruthless heir to the throne, who despises the Viridians more than anything. While he has no qualms about mistreating Kalliopee, his determination wavers when confronted with her striking eyes. In the midst of desire and animosity, schemes and plots, dreams and disillusionment, will the princess’s heart endure the price of her liberty?

The Princess Brides trilogy Book 1 — The Princess’s New Year Wedding Look out for the next book, coming soon! “I loved this story and enjoy anything by Rebecca Winters. The hero is a dream and the heroine is so sweet. I look forward to the other stories….” —Goodreads on Captivated by the Brooding Billionaire “Cesare and Tuccia are wonderful together and also a perfect fit. Readers will adore how protective he grows over her. There are tender moments, bouts of excitement and, of course, raw emotion. A delectable read that readers won’t want to end!” —RT Book Reviews on Whisked Away by Her Sicilian Boss

When Princess Sabrina is sent away from her family, the king and queen of Mulakating, she must hide away in a dull, working-class town, living undercover to keep her blue-blooded identity secret. At the tough neighbourhood school she is now forced to attend, Awful Agatha hates Sabrina on sight and plots to get her kicked out of school. An epic fight results in both getting covered in pigswill and nearly suspended. Awful Agatha is hellbent on revenge and a number of sneakily executed school thefts finally allow her to destroy Sabrina’s life for good. The girls meet in a final, explosive showdown that forces them to realise they both have secrets to keep and are more alike than they would ever admit. Sabrina definitely has the right skills to survive as a royal, but can she hold her own against Awful Agatha in the most dreadful school in the world?