Entwined by Heather Dixon - ADVISABLE

Dixon, Heather Entwined, 480 pages, Greenwillow Books, 2011, $17.99. Language-G, Mature Content-G, Violence-PG

As the eldest of twelve daughters, Azalea tries to rally the spirits of her younger sisters after the death of their mother, the Queen, and the abandonment of their father, the King, who leaves the castle on a mission. Practically held prisoners by the rules of mourning, the girls find escape through a secret passageway into the realm of the haunting Keeper. There, they try to forget their sorrows and loneliness by dancing every night. Faced with discovery at the advent of their father's return and with the increasingly sinister demands of the Keeper, Azalea struggles to find a way to save her family from becoming entangled in an evil act of revenge. 

This new version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses is beautifully re-imagined with a gracefully, unraveling plot and gothic undertones. With twelve princesses, some of the younger sisters get lost in the background, but the story is never bogged down. The family relationships are strong and realistic with just the right kind of magic.  MS-Advisable/HS-Optional; Reviewer: Gretchen Zaitzeff