Pulling Princes (Book One of The Calypso Chronicles)
When Calypso returns from Los Angeles to her English boarding school for the summer term, she is determined to fit in with the popular crowd. Her plan is to pretend her mother's gay assistant back home is her boyfriend. And to her surprise, the trick works...at least at first. She makes a whole batch of new friends, and even finds herself winning the unwritten contest to woo the prince at the boys' school next door. But one girl, Honey, undermines all her efforts. When Calypso and Prince...
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When Calypso returns from Los Angeles to her English boarding school for the summer term, she is determined to fit in with the popular crowd. Her plan is to pretend her mother's gay assistant back home is her boyfriend. And to her surprise, the trick works...at least at first. She makes a whole batch of new friends, and even finds herself winning the unwritten contest to woo the prince at the boys' school next door. But one girl, Honey, undermines all her efforts. When Calypso and Prince Freddy end up in the tabloids and everything seems set to go down the drain, it's Calypso's parents and sense of humor that save her from utter humiliation. A fast-paced, laugh-out-loud-funny look at fitting in while still standing out...Publishers WeeklyIn a starred review, PW wrote, "Calypso Kelly, 14, stars in this frothy and fast-paced boarding school novel in which the genre's stalwart traditions are glamourized and brought up to date." Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
\ Publishers WeeklyIn a starred review, PW wrote, "Calypso Kelly, 14, stars in this frothy and fast-paced boarding school novel in which the genre's stalwart traditions are glamourized and brought up to date." Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Children's LiteratureMeredith MacCauley loves her dress-up wings and wishes she could fly like a real fairy. Her dream comes true when she returns the dropped wand of the fairy ornament on the Christmas tree. As the now-miniaturized Meredith climbs up the tree to deliver the wand, she hears the wishes of three other denizens of the tree. When she reaches the grateful fairy, she grants Meredith three wishes so those wishes are granted. But so is Meredith's unspoken wish, as well. The illustrations are dappled with multicolored bits and hints of reflected lights on the close-ups of round ornaments the young girl passes as she climbs toward the fairy, another little girl. In the morning, "whizzery swishery," there is a new pair of dress-up wings which remind Meredith of her magical adventure. For those little girls who dream of fairies and magic, this sweet and sugary story may be just to their tastes. 2005, Bloomsbury, Ages 3 to 7. \ —Susan Hepler, Ph.D.\ \ \ From The CriticsO'Connell has created a tale that appeals to many adolescent girls. Calypso, the main character, attends an elite boarding school in England while her parents live in Hollywood. As an American attending the school, Calypso has a difficult time fitting in. When Calypso returns for another year of schooling, she finds out she is rooming with Star, her best friend, and Georgina, one of the popular girls who berates Calypso on a regular basis. In a fencing match against Eades, the male counterpart to the girls' school, Calypso is up against Prince Freddie, next in line to the throne of England. After the match Freddie and Calypso talk, and Freddie becomes romantically interested in Calypso. As Freddie and Calypso's relationship progresses, Calypso's life at school becomes increasingly more difficult. Girls of all ages can relate to Calypso as she ventures out of the sheltered world she has created for herself and begins her first real relationship, deals with the difficulties involved in remaining true to herself, and recognizes the complexity of relationships and the strains relationships can create. 2004, Bloomsbury, 221 pp., Ages young adult. \ —Elle Wolterbeek\ \ \ \ \ KLIATTThis is a first YA novel by an experienced British author best known for adult comedy novels. O'Connell once attended a Catholic boarding school in England, as do her own three children, and so she is comfortable describing the life Calypso leads at just such a school. Calypso is actually an American, sent to St. Augustine's by her California parents; as the story begins she still feels like a misfit, even after several years at the place. Now 14 years old, she has a new roommate and her life changes. She and her one true friend, Star (daughter of a rock star), are sharing a room with The Honorable Georgina Castle Orpington, and she and Star finally are learning what it is like to connect with the British aristocracy, for better and for worse. Calypso also meets Freddie, a royal prince, in a fencing lesson with the nearby boys' school. They strike up a flirtation that escalates into an incident that gets into all the British tabloids. But this doesn't give you any idea of just how outrageously funny this story is: O'Connell writes just about everything for laughs. She satirizes the rich girls and their obsessions. She is kind toward the nuns who run the school, who truly are intelligent, tolerant, and loving in their dealings with their wacky students. The girls hide vodka in their Body Shop bottles, they smoke and then spray Febreze around to cover the smell, they swear and plot against one another; they use their intelligence and creativity in madcap ways, and they actually do know how to be loyal friends. This book (could it be first of a series?) fits right in with other funny British teenage stories, but I think it has carved out its own niche in a posh boarding school setting.KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Bloomsbury, 224p., Ages 12 to 18. \ —Claire Rosser\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 8-11-California girl, Calypso Kelly, is the only one in her upscale British boarding school who is Pulling Princes (Bloomsbury, 2004). Pulling is slang for kissing, and Calypso has attracted the attention of Prince Freddie after they both competed in a fencing match. This is a real change of social status for Calypso whose only friend at St. Augustine's had been spunky Star, daughter of an English rock musician. The American girl has been making new friends since she began rooming with former nemesis Georgina, but snobby Honey still has it in for Calypso. Working with Star and several new friends to create a school magazine and raising money for charity also helps Calypso feel like she belongs at the posh school. Though an unexpected photo in the British tabloids upsets Calypso briefly, a visit from her parents and the chance to talk to the alienated Prince Freddie help end the school term on a hopeful note. Author Tyne O'Connell reads her breezy, humorous text with the right amount of teen emotion. The rabbit in the cover art relates to the story but may not draw an adolescent audience. There's an extensive glossary of English slang and fencing terms at the end of the recording. While the vocabulary may be new to listeners, the petty jealousies, insecurities, and occasional four-letter words in the conversations of these high school girls will be universally recognizable. This first title in the series will be an additional, but welcome purchase for high school and public libraries.-Barbara Wysocki, Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsCalypso is the adorably funny "Queen of Doomsday Prophecies," a classic teenage-drama-queen underdog in this endearing and energetic expose of English boarding-school life, the first in a witty YA series by Brit chick-lit goddess O'Connell. Fitting in seems an impossible dream for the charmingly out-of-step wallflower, no matter how she tries to mask her American accent, bond with other misfits, appease her snobby roommate, and avoid mean Honey O'Hare and her rich it-girl clique. But Calypso is determined to reinvent herself by winning peer-approval the best way she knows how: nabbing an enviable older boyfriend. Or at least by pretending that her Hollywood mom's gay personal assistant is her dashing suitor. Hilarity ensues, with Calypso's "Operation Cool" getting her into hot water. When an actual prince enters the picture, the stakes are raised, and jealousy rears its ugly head. Scenarios-particularly the fencing scenes-are inventive, fresh, and fun. In particular, the relatable teen voice here is sharp, honest, and seriously entertaining, making this an enjoyable read, and crowning O'Connell the latest British teen queen. (Fiction. YA)\ \
