Demon Princess: Reign or Shine
Grade 6–10—Just when Nikki Donovan is about to go to Winter Formal with the hottest guy at school, she's summoned by a creepy (but also hot) teenage messenger from the land of the demons. It turns out her father, who left her mother before Nikki was born, is the king of the Shadowlands, the dimension between the human realm and the Underworld. Now he is dying, and Nikki is next in line for the throne. While many novels and TV shows remove supernatural creatures from their traditional gothic environments, this book keeps the demons in creepy, mist-shrouded castles. Cartoonish scenes in which Nikki sprouts leather wings and pets unicorns even make the story seem like a spoof. But the real problem is that there isn't enough plot to sustain readers' interest. Instead, Nikki spends a lot of time talking and thinking about her situation: "It didn't make any sense. It couldn't be real. And if it was…if I washalfdemon, what did that mean? Was I evil? Would I suddenly go all dark side and want to eat souls or something?" For more complicated, less-stereotypical demons, check out Maureen Johnson'sDevilish(Penguin, 2006), or A. M. Jenkins'sRepossessed(HarperTeen, 2007)—or if you prefer demon-slayers, Rosemary Clement-Moore's "Maggie Quinn" series (Delacorte).—Emily R. Brown, Providence Public Library, RICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.