A Little Princess

Sara Crew is a nineteenth-century little rich girl, who, left in the care of an unscrupulous boarding school mistress, is locked away in the attic to survive on crumbs while the headmistress steals her money. After much tribulation, valiant Sara is freed and the headmistress punished. Vanessa Maroney reads this classic tale with just the right moderate pacing--almost too slow for adults, perfect for the 8 to 12-years-olds for whom the book was written. Maroney should also be applauded for creating a wealth of believable little girl voices, not one of them squeaky or shrill. A few more pictures on the packaging would have been nice for a children's audiobook. Still, a fine production. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine


girlpower4ever - Dubbed as one of the most beautiful books ever written, Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic "A Little Princess" revolves around a little girl named Sara Crewe who has everything. Her wardrobes are full to bursting with lavish attire, she is allowed extravagant porcelain dolls to play with, and her father is investing in some diamond mines in India that could make millions. Naturally, when Sara is sent to Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies, she is treated like royalty and with the utmost respect. In turn, impeccably-mannered Sara becomes a great favorite not only because of her money but because of her kindness. However, when her father dies and the diamond mine deal drains all his money but fails, young Sara Crewe is left with not a thing in the world to call her own except her doll. Forced to become a drudge and work day and night in rags for now-forboding Miss Minchin, Sara is dirty, alone, and worked to the bone. But what no one can take from Sara is her wherewithal, and even in the short little black dress smudged with dirt and torn to rags, Sara is a little princess in a class of her very own.