(3) YA Teenage Jane Austen protects her cousin Eliza and considers a suitor of her own while investigating threats of French espionage in this clever melding of sound biographical research and fictional murder-mystery. Just as the best of Austen's heroines do, MacColl's version of the famed author flaunts acerbic wit leavened with a compassion for the plight of women. Author's note appended. Reading list.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) K-3 In a disjointed story, Gibert satirically combines two historical events--the hot-air balloon invented by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783 and the 1789 French Revolution--by imagining that the sheep, hen, and duck sent up in the balloon insult King Louis XVI upon landing; sent to the Bastille, they become revolutionaries six years later. The stylish illustrations, with mixed patterns and regal jewel tones, add interest.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Retold by Marcia Williams. Illustrated by Marcia Williams. Colorful detail and an adroit comic-book layout make this retelling especially charming and eminently humane. Along the borders of each page, cats chase mice and rats frolic in sewer sludge in echo of Valjean's long journey to escape Javert and provide a home for his beloved Cosette. As it condenses an immensely complicated novel, brevity is both this volume's greatest feature and its limitation.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Odysseys in History series. This book examines the French Revolution with a focus on context and aftermath. While the topic is broader than other series entries, Riggs deftly zooms in and out on the relevant historical and cultural details, creating an accessible account of complex issues. Well-chosen period art, sidebars, and pull quotes complement the even-handed prose. Glossy, attractive page design adds further appeal. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Tutored and protected by Algernon, thief Celie survives on the Parisian streets until Madame Tussaud takes an interest in her drawings and offers the two a home. The arrangement exposes Celie to both the luxurious excesses of Versailles and the bloody ones of revolutionaries. Celie's loyalties are tested in this smart historical tale exploring the intersection of art, love, and politics.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) YA Colette struggles to keep up appearances (and placate her snobbish friends) after her parents' divorce. A class trip to Paris is a welcome distraction, but ghostly visions of Marie Antoinette and a series of gruesome socialite murders lead Colette into a supernatural mystery that spans back to the French Revolution. Underdeveloped characters and trite teenage issues detract from the camp.

Reviewer: Shara Hardeson

(4) 4-6 In late-eighteenth-century rural Pennsylvania, Hannah, a Quaker, and Eugenie, a young French noblewoman, make an unlikely pair; they bond in risking their lives to help several escaped slaves. Alternating chapters depict both girls' points of view and reveal the characters' growth. Though the writing is inexpert, the book lends an interesting perspective. An author's note explains the real-life inspiration. Bib.

Reviewer: April Mazza

(3) YA In this sequel to The Pale Assassin, aristocrat Eugénie flees the French Revolution to live with her English cousin Hetta until anxiety about her brother pulls Eugénie back to Paris. With courage and luck, the cousins navigate the political factions dividing the country as well as the vicious plots of Raoul Goullet. The story is rich in historical detail and adventure.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames series. Illustrated by Peter Malone. Profiling some of history's most notorious women rulers, this series employs crisp writing along with an appealing mix of dramatic paintings and photographs (mainly of places and items). The main texts deliver plenty of gory details; most volumes include sidebars highlighting cultural specifics. It's a little all over the place, but the series, with its sharp hook, should appeal to a diverse readership. Review covers these Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames titles: Agrippina, Catherine de' Medici, Cixi, Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, and Mary Tudor.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) YA Wracked with grief over her younger brother's death, Brooklyn teen guitarist Andi accompanies her father, a world-renowned geneticist, to Paris. There she stumbles on the diary of an eighteenth-century girl caught up in the French Revolution. The parallel narratives intersect in an over-the-top time-travel sequence, which, though not totally convincing, adds to the novel's rich layers of political and cultural history.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) 4-6 Lafayette, a nobleman in the French court, risked everything to aid the American cause of liberty. He also played a prominent role in the French Revolution and had a long career in French politics. The narrative, written with all of Freedman's characteristic grace and clarity, presents in Lafayette an outsider's perspective on the American Revolution. Illustrated with artwork reproductions. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(4) YA Young Maria Antonia must become Marie Antoinette and marry the French dauphin. Each chapter title is an instruction: "Perfection must be your goal." The story of her reign as queen, and her ultimate execution, is told through her eyes and with a sympathetic point of view. While Marie is well developed, other main characters are less so.

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(3) YA Eugénie barely notices the French Revolution happening around her--until her aristocratic family loses everything. While her royalist older brother, Armand, schemes to save Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Eugénie braves soldiers, spies, and traitorous friends to get herself and Armand safely out of the country. Elliott ably evokes the tumult of both the revolution and Eugénie's emotions. Timeline.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA Yann (The Red Necklace) returns to the horrors of revolutionary France. His exploits in Paris are interrupted by the return of Count Kalliovski, long presumed dead. Gardner employs lush prose and a colorful cast of characters. She uses magic as a method of illuminating good and evil and to throw the complexity of history into stark relief.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2009

(2) 4-6 Her third story finds plucky Cat Royal, disguised as a ballerina, in France reporting on La révolution. When her friends are thrown in prison, Cat must use her considerable street skills, connections, and audacity to secure their release. Cat's larger-than-life spunkiness supplies the engine for this fast-paced adventure. The general period atmosphere remains strong, as does Cat's ability to relate to people.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(3) 4-6 Days of Change series. Riggs clearly describes events leading to revolution, the tumultuous years of war, and Napoleon's rise to power. The French Revolution's impact on other European countries is also discussed. Clean design, including many art reproductions and occasional sidebars, makes the information easy to access. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) YA Sabine is a teenage aristocrat in pre-revolution Paris. Rebelling against a social-climbing mother and disloyal best friend, Sabine is drawn away from her comfortable life by the servants she admires and the childhood friend she loves. Guest appearances by Jean Honoré Fragonard and Ben Franklin make the story stumble over its own ambitions, but colorful descriptions give passages Parisian flair.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(4) YA World History series. This book explores the rise of the Third Estate, the increasing violence of the French Revolution, resulting changes in French society and culture, and Napoleon's ascendancy to power. Straightforward though bland writing makes the information accessible, but the two-column layout results in a sterile, textbooklike appearance. Photographs and illustrations help bring some life to the text. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(4) YA In England in the time of the French Revolution, well-born adventurer Sovay takes to highway robbery--first to avenge a romantic slight, then to stop a plot to frame her father for treason. The narrative, long on action, is regrettably shorter on character development. Nevertheless, this tale of political intrigue and familial loyalty will keep readers turning pages.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Bradley's tale considers the possible social, political, and emotional conflicts faced by Isabelle, a working-class girl brought to dine and socialize with the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Isabelle, entranced by palace life and ashamed of her meager home, must choose between the two, as the French Revolution nears. Though politics occasionally obscures plot, details of life at Versailles enrich the story.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King