The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party (Princess in Black #2)

A chuckle-inducing, entirely worthy stand-alone follow-up.

Everyone's favorite princess-cum-superhero returns to defend her kingdom in Shannon and Dean Hale's follow-up to the hit Princess in Black (Candlewick, 2014). The charming Princess Magnolia prepares for her birthday party by frosting cupcakes, decorating the house, and even festooning her trusty steed, Frimplepants, with a bow on his unicorn horn (albeit a fake horn, as readers will likely remember that he sheds it to become Blacky). As she excitedly awaits her guests—12 sparkly attired and ethnically diverse princesses riding on various animals—her monster alarm sounds. Donning her ninja-esque, kingdom-saving outfit, she narrowly escapes detection by partygoers before vanquishing hungry goat-eating monsters, returning just in time to welcome her fellow royal friends through the castle gates. But before she can settle in for tea and open her presents, Magnolia's monster alarm blares again. And so begins a comical back-and-forth as Magnolia tries desperately to keep her never-ending monster battling under wraps while keeping her princess pals in the dark about her true identity. The delightfully awkward Princess Sneezewort suspects something is up, as each time Magnolia returns, something about her is slightly amiss—shoes on the wrong feet, branches in her hair, an inside-out dress. When the Princess in Black loses her cool with the umpteenth monster emergency, will her cover be blown? VERDICT Princess and adventure fans alike will clamor for an invite to this not-so-perfect but oh-so-entertaining party.—Amy M. Laughlin, Darien Library, CT