Princess Juniper of the Anju

Gr 3–5—When readers last saw Princess Juniper, she had regained control of the Queen's Basin in its protected valley, imprisoned her treacherous cousin Cyril, and restored peace. But she and the kingdom of preteen subjects are troubled by the knowledge that their homeland has been invaded by the dreaded enemy Monsonia. Priority, however, falls on finding horses previously stolen, which leads their small search party up a cavernous path through the surrounding mountains. On the other side they find the people of Juniper's mother: the tree-dwelling Anju. By strange fate, Juniper finds herself entering the three-day challenge to become the Anjus' next leader. In the midst of this, she saves her subjects from a boiling flood and reveals her true motivation for wanting to gain leadership: forming an army of peace-loving Anju to go rescue her imprisoned father, King Regis. This installment contains unexpected twists in plot and unforeseen turns in character development, adding depth and keeping readers' interest piqued. Though Juniper sometimes seems a flighty princess one moment and then completely intelligent and focused the next, this small inconsistency in characterization does not detract from the adventure or prevent readers from cheering for her to succeed. Indeed, a strong theme throughout the series is about making mistakes and taking action to redeem oneself.