A Royal Pain

Conford, Ellen

ISBN 10: 0590332694 ISBN 13: 9780590332699

Publisher: Scholastic, 1986

Synopsis

A sixteen-year-old in Kansas, who discovers she is really a princess, is taken to a tiny European monarchy to assume her duties and marry a distasteful neighboring prince, and in the ensuing weeks tries to become such a "royal pain" that everyone will want to be rid of her.Because of a hospital mix-up at birth, Abby Adams, an ordinary teenager from Kansas, discovers that she is really a royal princess, the heir to the throne of Saxony Coburn, and betrothed to the creepy Prince Casimir despite her love for the commoner Geoffrey

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Conford returns to the theme used to such success in A Silver Crown: one morning a girl wakes up to discover she's really a queen. Or, in teenager Abby Adams's case, heir to the throne of a tiny European country named Saxony Coburn. There was an unfortunate switch of babies, and Abby is whisked off to Saxony Coburn to take her rightful place as Princess Florinda XIV. It's all a great lark for Abby, especially after she meets Geoffrey, a reporter, and it's love at first sight for both. The party abruptly ends when Abby learns that there are some things a princess can never do. Falling in love with a commoner is one of them, especially when the princess has been betrothed to Prince Casimir. When Abby protests, her new parents decide to marry her on her 16th birthday, only three weeks away. Abby's solution is to become a "royal pain," so she'll be sent home. It's all meant to be a silly, comic romp, but Conford never quite pulls the joke off, because her characters are not very believable, and the "surprise" ending is no surprise.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10 A lighthearted romp for younger teens. Abby Adams, an all-American 15-year-old living in Kansas, discovers that she's been the subject of a "Princess and Pauper" type switcheroo at birth. She's really Florinda XIV, heiress to a comic opera Middle European principality. True to her pragmatic American upbringing, she gives her new status a try. On the down side are a creepy, eager fiance, a frustrated budding romance with a hunk of a commoner reporter and a cat and mouse game with the displaced ex-Princess who may have murder on her mind. All of this is highly readable and funny, but don't strain to find originality of plot or depth of characterization. Libby K. White, Schenectady County Public Library, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0590332694
• ISBN 13: 9780590332699
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 171