Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

This is a twisted tale of Sleeping Beauty with the hamster princess not behaving correctly.  She's not willing to take lessons in deportment.  She'd rather fight dragons!  But her father and mother refuse to allow to do anything she'd like to do.  One day they finally tell her about the curse but her mother has plans to get a prince in place so they can bring her back awake right away.  Harriet is not enthused.  It gets worse when she realizes that if she's cursed, she can't die before her appropriate time.  So she can be as daredevil as she wishes until then!

Dial Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It's being published on the 18th, so you get a copy then.

I liked Harriet.  She's a tomboy (I was too) and she likes adventure.  She's hanging out with dangerous witches (they make good cookies) and rides on a noble steed:  Her quail.  He wears armor and fights alongside her.  She's enjoying life until her 12th birthday comes around.  Then she goes home because she knows she can't avoid her fate.  Harriet being Harriet means the evil rat witch gets impaled and goes to sleep.  The problem is that everyone else in the castle does except Harriet and her quail.  What good does a sleeping prince do?  None!

Harriet's new quest is to find a non-sleeping prince.  However, her reputation precedes her and none of them will even talk to her.  At last she finds a rundown castle and she knows that prince will help for money to keep the castle going.  The only problem is that he's stuck at the top of a glass mountain...

This is a quick read with all kinds of excitement and fun.  Harriet is a great character and at the end of the story she's off on more adventures.  Someone else can be the quiet princess at home, not Harriet!