How does someone become a princess? What do princesses do? Learn about how princesses work for their countries, give back to charity, and more!

2013-2014 Show Me Readers Nominee List 2012 Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College Although she's always been called Princess at home, Kim is not a real princess, so she decides "From now on, no matter what, I'm only going to tell the truth!" At home, she tells her Dad that the pancakes are rubbery and her Grandma that her new necklace looks the the slimy rocks at the bottom of the fish tank. At school, she's just as honest...until she learns what too much truth can do.

Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, the legendary Hollywood screen siren, Grace Kelly is an American icon whose beauty is unrivalled, and whose oft-imitated aristocratic style and cool elegance has never been eclipsed. Wendy Leigh- after three years' research - has gained unprecedented access to over one hundred sources who have never talked about Grace before, including nine of her until now undisclosed romances - among them an English aristocrat, an American tennis player, and a Hollywood legend - and also including her priest friend, Father Peter Jacobs, and Bernard Combemal, the former head of the S.B.M, the consortium that runs Monaco. Wendy Leigh provides revealing new details about Grace's life, including her premarital romantic swan song which took place during her voyage to Monaco, the hitherto untold story of her troubling relationship with bridesmaid, Carolyn Reybold and the moving story of Grace's lifelong relationship with actor, David Niven. Wendy Leigh paints a compelling portrait of Grace, the ambitious young actress, Grace, the dutiful princess who transformed the principality of Monaco into a jet-set haven, Grace, the kind-hearted philanthropist, Grace, the loving mother, and Grace, the patriotic American. Wendy Leigh's book has not been written for those readers who wish to view Grace as a saint, but for those who - like Leigh herself - believes that she was a strong and wonderful woman.

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.

A theme park princess must put her life back together after her happily ever after falls apart in this contemporary YA romance from the author of How to Keep Rolling After a Fall.

From the author of Doomed Queens, an entertaining and informative look at the lives of over 30 princesses from the past and present. Welcome to Bad Princess by Kris Waldherr, where you’ll discover what really happens after “Happily Ever After.” From the war-torn Dark Ages of Medieval Europe to America's Gilded Age, and all the way up to Kate Middleton, Bad Princess explores more than 30 true princess stories, going beyond the glitz and glamour to find out what life was really like for young royals throughout history. A mix of royal biography, pop culture, art, style, and pure fun, Bad Princess is a whip-smart, tongue-in-cheek spin on the traditional princess narrative, proving that it takes more than a pretty crown to be a great leader. Praise for Bad Princess A SELECTION OF THE JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD “Perfect for tweens . . . This is a great book to recommend to readers who want a taste of history with a side of fairy tale princesses.” —School Library Journal “Snarky and sympathetic . . . Power to the princesses, right on!” —Kirkus Reviews “Packed with history and context, Waldherr uses an animated, well-rounded approach in this engaging look at princesses in life and lore . . . This absorbing, thought-provoking, and intriguing exploration of a perennially popular topic will both entertain and inform.” —Booklist

Did you ever wish to be a princess? Have you ever wanted to wear a pretty pink gown, sing to your forest animal friends, and attend a fancy fairy-tale ball? Then meet Beatrice—she represents what being a princess in the Middle Ages was really like. Pink gown? More like itchy wool! Sing to animals? Think archery and horseback riding instead. Beatrice’s life is no fairy tale, but she will show you that fact can sometimes be more fascinating than fantasy. This humorous, brightly illustrated book offers an irresistible comparison of fairy tale vs. real life in medieval times.

In a land where Kings still rule, I am a Princess. You must know me only as Sultana, for I cannot reveal my true name for fear that harm will come to me and my family for what I am about to tell you. Think of a Saudi Arabian princess and what do you see? A woman glittering with jewels, living a life of unbelievable luxury. She has gold, palaces, swimming-pools, servants, designer dresses galore. But in reality she lives in a gilded cage. She has no freedom, no vote, no control over her own life, no value but as a bearer of sons. Hidden behind the veil, she is a prisoner, her jailers her father, her husband, her sons. 'Sultana' is a member of the Saudi royal family, closely related to the King. For the sake of her daughters, she decided that it was time for a woman in her position to speak out about the reality of life for women in her country, whatever their rank. She tells of her own life, from her turbulent childhood to her arranged marriage - a happy one, until her husband decided to take a second wife - and of the lives of her sisters, her friends and her servants. In contrast to the affection and easy camaraderie amongst the women, she relates a history of appalling oppression against them, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: forced marriages, servants bullied into sex slavery, summary executions. Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and great courage. By speaking out, 'Sultana' risked bringing the wrath of the Saudi establishment upon her head and upon the heads of her children. For this reason, she told her story anonymously.

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia has led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when she learns, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city, her best friend, Kiernan, and the only life she's ever known. Sent to live with her only surviving relative—a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece—Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. Then she discovers that magic runs through her veins—long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control—and she realizes that she will never learn to be just a simple village girl. Sinda returns to the city to seek answers. Instead, she rediscovers the boy who refused to forsake her, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history forever. An intricately plotted and completely satisfying adventure, The False Princess is both an engaging tale in the tradition of great fantasy novels and a story never before told that will enchant—and surprise—its readers.

What story would Eve have told about picking the apple? Why is Pandora blamed for opening the box? And what about the fate of Cassandra who was blessed with knowing the future but cursed so that no one believed her? What if women had been the storytellers? Elizabeth Lesser believes that if women’s voices had been equally heard and respected throughout history, humankind would have followed different hero myths and guiding stories—stories that value caretaking, champion compassion, and elevate communication over vengeance and violence. Cassandra Speaks is about the stories we tell and how those stories become the culture. It’s about the stories we still blindly cling to, and the ones that cling to us: the origin tales, the guiding myths, the religious parables, the literature and films and fairy tales passed down through the centuries about women and men, power and war, sex and love, and the values we live by. Stories written mostly by men with lessons and laws for all of humanity. We have outgrown so many of them, and still they endure. This book is about what happens when women are the storytellers too—when we speak from our authentic voices, when we flex our values, when we become protagonists in the tales we tell about what it means to be human. Lesser has walked two main paths in her life—the spiritual path and the feminist one—paths that sometimes cross but sometimes feel at cross-purposes. Cassandra Speaks is her extraordinary merging of the two. The bestselling author of Broken Open and Marrow, Lesser is a beloved spiritual writer, as well as a leading feminist thinker. In this book she gives equal voice to the cool water of her meditative self and the fire of her feminist self. With her trademark gifts of both humor and insight, she offers a vision that transcends the either/or ideologies on both sides of the gender debate. Brilliantly structured into three distinct parts, Part One explores how history is carried forward through the stories a culture tells and values, and what we can do to balance the scales. Part Two looks at women and power and expands what it means to be courageous, daring, and strong. And Part Three offers “A Toolbox for Inner Strength.” Lesser argues that change in the culture starts with inner change, and that no one—woman or man—is immune to the corrupting influence of power. She provides inner tools to help us be both strong-willed and kind-hearted. Cassandra Speaks is a beautifully balanced synthesis of storytelling, memoir, and cultural observation. Women, men and all people will find themselves in the pages of this book, and will come away strengthened, opened, and ready to work together to create a better world for all people.