Goat in shining armor

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry has several elements in common with the story of Cinderella, but is not merely a retelling of it. There are a prince, a ball, a cruel aunt serving as wicked stepmother, and a benevolent godmother of sorts. However, the Amaranth plot is more exciting, and the events more plentiful than in Cinderella. And there is an unexpected hero--an affectionate goat named Dog, who rescues the damsel at several different times of distress.

For me, this novel was quick, light reading. I read all 306 pages in just 5 hours or so. The reading experience was both pleasurable and an accomplishment--actually reading a book start to finish in a couple of days! When reading for pleasure, I am easily bogged down in /distracted away from regular-length books. My usual pattern is to start, enjoy 100 pages or so, then leave it unfinished. (This does not mean that I didn't like what I had read thus far!) Years later I return, the bookmark inserted where I left off, but nonetheless I must re-start from the beginning, because I can't recollect enough to support picking up right where I left off. Therefore, I really tip my hat to authors who hold my interest long enough for me to complete the book in one "session."

With my literary "attention span", I appreciate YA and middle-grade books for their brevity, but I would certainly not invest in them if they were not also highly engaging. A post today by Roger Sutton on his Read Roger blog, http://hbook.com/blog (which discussed a different topic on YA literature) has an astute comment posted by Walter Underwood, observing that YA books have "momentum, excitement, and no fat." Ditto to that! The Amaranth Enchantment is an engaging and concise novel which fits the bill for me.