Bella at Midnight: A Magical Journey About Friendship, Betrayal, and Discovering Your True Self for Kids (Ages 8-12)

Bella at Midnight: A Magical Journey About Friendship, Betrayal, and Discovering Your True Self for Kids (Ages 8-12)

Bella has grown up thinking that she was just a simple peasant girl. But suddenly, Bella's world collapses. First, her best friend, Julian, betrays her. Then she finds out that she is, in fact, Isabel, the daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. And now he wants her back. Bella is torn from her beloved foster family and tries to accept her new life with her deranged father and his resentful wife. But when she finds out about a terrible plot that threatens the kingdom, she sets out on a journey that will lead her to a destiny far greater than she could have imagined. “Fans of fairy tale retellings will enjoy the fanciful twists in familiar territory, and long remember this engaging heroine, destined for a happily-ever-after life.” - Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) “Stanley subtly twists strands of the Cinderella story until it’s something quite new and fine.” - ALA Booklist (starred review) “More than a reworking of the familiar, this is a 21st-century fairy-tale, throughly enjoyable in its own right.” - School Library Journal (starred review) Bella has grown up thinking that she was just a simple peasant girl. But suddenly, Bella's world collapses. First, her best friend, Julian, betrays her. Then she finds out that she is, in fact, Isabel, the daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. And now he wants her back. Bella is torn from her beloved foster family and tries to accept her new life with her deranged father and his resentful wife. But when she finds out about a terrible plot that threatens the kingdom, she sets out on a journey that will lead her to a destiny far greater than she could have imagined. Diane Stanely is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including The Silver Bowl , named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and an ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice; The Cup and the Crown ; The Princess of Cortova ; Saving Sky , winner of the Arab American Book Award; Bella at Midnight , a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy ; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine ; The Chosen Prince ; and Joplin, Wishing . Ms. Stanley has written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales, The Giant and the Beanstalk , Goldie and the Three Bears , and Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter , and an award-winning series of picture book biographies. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can visit her online at www.dianestanley.com. Bella at Midnight By Diane Stanley HarperTrophy Copyright © 2008 Diane Stanley All right reserved. ISBN: 9780060775759 Chapter One Maud When the message came and I saw it was from Edward, I nearly choked on my plum cake. It could only mean that my sister was dead. I had not seen her since her wedding day, three long years before. An occasion for rejoicing -- that's what you're imagining, is it not? A beautiful bride, a blushing groom, flowers, and music, and bright new beginnings? It's a sweet picture, but that is not how it was, not for Catherine, anyway. Oh, she did look a perfect angel in her delicate gown of robin's-egg blue, her hair cascading down her shoulders, shining like the finest gold. And there were flowers aplenty, and music, too, and a sumptuous feast that lasted well into the night. Father wanted nothing but the best for her, you see. But as for the bright new beginnings -- well, that's another story. You'll notice I haven't yet mentioned the groom. Sir Edward of Burning Wood was an odd man, arrogant and proud. But I thought such traits to be common among the nobility. I knew little of such things, being born to the merchant class. And so I would have taken his peculiar and unfriendly ways as natural to his station in life -- if it hadn't been for the way he looked at me. There was such coldness in those eyes, such a hardness near to hatred, that it positively made me tremble, and I could not help but turn away. I remember thinking, when first he pierced me with that terrible gaze, that Edward of Burning Wood was not altogether right in his mind. He was no proper husband for my sister, of that I was sure -- and I told Father so. "Catherine is rich," I said, "and beautiful besides -- she does not need to settle for such a man." "Settle?" Father said. He was astonished, for he considered it a splendid match. "What can you be thinking? Edward is a knight, and he shall make our Catherine a lady. Just think of it, Maud -- and she only a glass merchant's daughter!" "A glass merchant's daughter with a fortune , Father, don't forget that." (I knew, and Father knew, and surely even Catherine knew that Edward was marrying her for her money.) "I would far rather she remain a common lass than be raised to the nobility and be miserable all her life!" "But why should she be miserable?" Father countered. "Can you not see how the man dotes upon her?" This was t