Just Ella

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Summary: An ending to the Cinderella story
Review: Just Ella shows that not all fairy tales have good endings. The life after Cinderella wasn't exactly a fairy tale life. It was more like the opposite. Sure, she didn't have to do all the chores anymore, but she couldnt't do anything else either, and the prince wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box. She found herself longing for a different life with someone else.
She learned that royal life wasn't what everyone thought it was. She learned that a simple life is what made her happy. I think everyone who longs for that perfect fairy tale life could learn a lesson. Even if your happy with you life you have, you should still read it. You could learn something, too.

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Summary: Finnaly! A non-wimp cinderella!
Review: Being the type that finds the steryotypical cinderella a complete whoose, I really enjoyed this book. I see the author might have agreed with me on this (and that the story ended a little to quickly with not enough fuss.) Since I actually do love the basis of Cinderella. (How a girl escapes a horrible life by marrying a prince.) But thought she could do it on her own if she tried. This book seems to be made for me. (I'm sorry if you don't find this review helpful but it's rather late and I'm beggining to feel a bit sleepy.)

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Summary: This was a great book!
Review: Have you ever thought you loved someone, only to find out that you never did? That's what happened to Ella, only the one she thought she loved was Prince Charming! Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a fantasy novel about a girl who learns that you have to continue in spite of difficulties, or persevere. First of all, Ella goes to the prince's ball and she 'falls in love with the prince' and eventually is engaged to him. Later, after she realizes that she doesn't really love him, Ella breaks their engagement. Because of that, Ella gets put in a dungeon. After she finally manages to get out, she needs to escape--but where? Ella is a beautiful 14-year-old girl who kept going in spite of difficulties. For example, she had to escape from the castle without any guards seeing her, she had to get food every day, and Ella didn't know where she was going. Just Ella is mostly set in a large kingdom, during the Medieval Times. Throughout the whole book, there is a war called 'the Sualan War' because they are fighting Suala, their neighboring kingdom. I'd say about a year passes from the beginning to the end of the novel. The setting adds to the story's mood, because if it were set in Suala, there would be a completely different mood to the story. This is because it would be told from a different point of view concerning the war. I personally LOVED Just Ella, and it was so good I read it in two days! I LOVED it because it was very exciting and it had a great message. I would strongly recommend this book to the sixth grade girls' required reading list (if there was one)! I think young teenage girls would like this book the most because it has romance, and if a ten-year-old read it, it would be confusing to her! Only girls would like this book because of the romance and the fact that it is told from a girl's point of view.

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Summary: Just Ella Review
Review: All good fairy tales end with the words "and they lived happily ever after". But what happens after that? The book Just Ella goes beyond the happily ever after ending and shows you what life is like beyond the clichéd fairy tale ending. This book starts out like a regular old Cinderella story. Prince Charming falls in love with the peasant girl Ella at the ball, and makes her his wife. You would think that this would be the end of the story, but what is so awesome about this book is that it is just the beginning. Ella has gotten everything she's ever dreamed of. She is swept off her feet by Prince Charming and taken from her common life to being one of the highest members of the royal family. Perfect right? Perfect is exactly the opposite of what Ella is feeling. Ella is bombarded with pointless lessons and weighed down by dresses made up of endless fabric. She feels like she can't be herself or say anything without getting herself into trouble with one of her many teachers. Ella isn't allowed to do anything for herself or even go outside. She hasn't even spoken with the prince since she came to the castle and is starting to realize that the happily ever after ending she thought it would be isn't happily ever after at all. Ella needs to escape, but the question is how without getting caught by the many royal guards? This book was exciting to read, especially because it wasn't your average fairy tale, but much more. It took you into life after happily ever after and was just an amazing and imaginative book to read. I definitely recommend this book to teenagers and older for a more mature twist on the Cinderella story.

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Summary: My favorite book!
Review: I couldn't believe how great a book this was. I read it last week and I was amazed by how good it was. My friend had told me it was a great book, and I thought it was only going to be OK. It turned out great. I absulutly loved it.

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Summary: sorta hard to follow
Review: I really enjoed the beginning of this book as well as the idea, but it didn't really keep my interest. Then like 3 different times I tried to pick up where I left off, but it was hard to find my place. It was also hard to follow when I wasn't reading it all at once (or almost.)

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Summary: Very Disappionting
Review: This book is about a girl named Ella who, of course, went to the ball, fell in love with the prince, and got a royal marriage out of the deal. Once she gets to the palace, however, she finds it isn't what she expected it would be. She has to stay inside and listen to boring teachers all day long, that is except when one of her teachers falls ill. To replace him for the time being his son is to teach her. Jud, her new replacement, has a dream to go work at these camps and help the poor peolpe there. To Ella Jud seems like a much better match than the prince. Once in a while Ella visits her prince who turns out to be nothing interesting. When Ella finally descides to announce the end of her engagement she figures out that it isn't that simple. Very soon she finds herself in the dungeon with the worst person ever as her guard. Ella ends up escaping from the dungeon and sets out to find Jud, who did go to the camps. When you start this book you expect a pretty good book, but you might be suprised with the leave-you-hanging ending and no second book to follow it up. I was pretty disappointed with such a BAD ending. If you really want a GOOD book to read then get Ella Enchanted, the best book in the world! You can't even compair Ella Enchanted with Just Ella.

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Summary: Just Ella
Review: ...if you liked the Cinderella story, then you will like this one too. According to the author and such, this is suppose to be the next chapter of the story of Cinderella. In the movie, they all say that they lived happily ever after but that wasn't how it began in this story. Ella seemed to miss being a maid or servant to the steps. I'm not saying that she misses the fact that she moved out of that house but that in the palace, they start to spread the rumors. If she tries to make a fire because the fire went out in the room and a servant in the palace sees her, she would tell her friend then that friend would tell another friend, then another, then another until it reaches Madame Bisset. As life goes on in this story, Madame Bisset teaches her how to be more lady like or in other words, wants to make her more of a princess than a servant girl. Everything must go under the castle's rule and Ella would meet prince Charming once in a while for about 10 min. or so. She has a tutor name Jed and he teaches her about well, everything there is to know about the world. Then, Jed said that he would go out and start a refugee to take in the sick and the injured and left the castle. Later, she soon realizes what the word love is and why she said that she would marry the prince. One day, when it was time for Charming and Ella to meet, she would just say it without feeling sorry for him. When Charming entered the room, she couldn't stop staring at his blue eyes and his golden hair. She tried to concentrate and focus to tell him that she didn't want to marry him but he grabbed her hand and kissed it. Immediately, she took her hand away and just said it," I don't want to marry you!" Charming was so shocked and didn't know what to do that he tied her up and went to find Madame Bisset. Madame Bisset locked Ella up in a dungeon and left her alone until she reconsidered about the whole ' I don't want to marry you ' part. Then, she had a visit from Quog. He was a mental was sexually active. Quog was put into the dungeon because he would rape every single beautiful girl that he would find. Charming and Madame Bisset thought that with him around, Charming would kill him and Ella would be so happy and would want to marry him again. But that didn't happen. In the dungeon, there was this little pee hole and Ella would escape by digging her way out of the castles wall and property. She had made her escape and she went to go find Jed at the refugee camp. When Ella arrived, she saw Jed and Jed had propose to her. She said that she would give him her answer in 6 months. Jed went back to the castle and wrote a letter to her that the time was up and that Charming had married one of Ella's Stepsister.
I liked this book because there was a lot of adventure in it and mystery along with it. In the beginning, Ella had said, "Ella, you're no stranger to tending fireplace." In the castle, only servants were only allowed to touch the fireplace but instead of calling the servant, she just did it herself. That really amazes me because she would risk braking one of the castle's rule.
"A princess? Where? Oh, that's right. Me. Sort of." This quote really made me wonder if she remember that she was going to marry the prince. It made me question alot of stuff too. I just love books that make me wonder and make me think of all of the questions that there is to think of.
My favorite part of the book was when Ella had told Charming that she didn't want to marry him anymore. After reading that chapter, I wondered why he took orders from others even though he was the prince. It was very suprising the way Ella refused one of Charmings orders. That shows how brave and self-centered she is. Well, sort of.

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Summary: Just Ella
Review: Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a lot like a Cinderella story, but what happens after the ball and after the prince and Cinderella got married.The main character is, of course, Ella. Ella is now living in the palace and she never gets to see the prince. Ella is not used to being locked inside all the time. She is used to being outside all the time and helping everyone. Everyone in the palace tells her to stay inside all the time and act like a princess. My favorite character is Ella because she is so brave and she knows what she wants in life.

I could really relate to Ella. She couldn't do what she wanted and she felt trapped. I feel that way a lot. I definitely have felt the same way as Ella. If she was real, I think we would be great friends.

I love this book! My favorite part is the end. I can't tell you about it, because it would ruin it for you.

I really recommend this book for all readers. It is a great book! If you have read Ella Enchanted, you will love this book. It is ten times better. If you haven't read Ella Enchanted, you should still read Just Ella because it is great!

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Summary: Just Ella
Review: This story is about Ella, a 14 year old girl who is also an orphan. Ella's mother died when she was very young, and her father died a few years after he remarried. Lucille, Ella's stepmother, treats her horribly. She has two daughters of her own named Corimunde and Griselda. If you liked Cinderella, you will like this book, but if you do not like Cinderella, you will not particularily enjoy this book.
The prince sends out a message to the country saying that every maiden is to attend a ball where he would choose his wife. Ella secretly attends the ball, even though she is supposed to be washing/cleaning the kitchen.
This is an adventurous book that will be very hard to put down because of all the constant surprises! It seems as if the characters are always on the move, and never just sitting around doing nothing. I enjoyed this book a lot, and I think just about everyone else that reads it will too!