It’s no wonder Gail Carson Levine’s charming adaptation of Cinderella won the Newberry Award. Ella Enchanted is a truly enchanting read for both children as well as any lover of fairy tales, magic and fantasy.

As a child, I always wondered why Cinderella didn’t just leave her wicked stepmother and stepsisters; after all, she had free will, and she was resourceful enough to make it on her own. That must have been what Levine was thinking as she penned this amazing novel.

Ella in this version is strong-willed, but cursed to follow the orders that anyone gives her through the “gift” of a well-meaning but ditzy fairy. Because of this “gift” of obedience, Ella must do as she is told by everyone. She is protected by her loving mother until she is fifteen, when her mother dies.

Even with this curse, Ella still manages to escape the clutches of those who would do her harm by leaving them behind on her journey to find the fairy and have her curse removed, a quest she embarks upon following one awful girl’s discovery of her plight.

Ella is truly enchanted with other gifts as well, including the ability to mimic the language of other creatures, such as ogres. This gift comes in handy, saving Ella’s own life as the ogres attempt to eat her. Unfortunately, Ella cannot use her gifts to entice her fairy godmother to remove her “gift,” and she ends up back at home, stuck with the obnoxious girl from school and her sister as her stepsisters, and their equally awful mother as a new stepmother.

During her unfortunate stint as their slave, Ella corresponds with Prince Charmond, who has fallen in love with her. Believing that her curse would cause harm to his kingdom, she convinces him that she has eloped with another man to save the land from doom.

But later she decides that she simply must see him, as she’s fallen in love with him as well, and the rest of the story of Cinderella and her ball matches up with the rest of the book, more or less, with Ella finally willfully breaking her curse by her own willpower.

Girls who love fairy tales will love this story even more with such a strong heroine who is completely able to rescue herself with her own wit, strength and cleverness. Rather than a tale of being rescued by a prince, it’s a tale of being your own champion while still being able to marry the love of your life—something that girls should definitely appreciate and be able to do.