(2) 4-6 Daughter of a mere butcher, Nell nevertheless becomes best friends with Prince Edward--"Ned," heir apparent to England's King Edward IV. When Ned is sent off for his training, Nell is lucky enough to be allowed to help out in the printing shop of William Caxton, England's first printer, staying in touch with Ned through letters. In 1483, Edward IV dies, and Ned's uncle, plotting to be crowned King Richard III, imprisons twelve-year-old Ned and his brother Dickon in the Tower of London. Nell and her brother are asked to stay in the Tower, too, to cheer the two young princes. Anglophiles know how this story ends: the princes are murdered. Or are they? Riffing on historical accounts of the "reappearance" of Dickon in later years, Zahler makes a tale of Nell's rescue of Ned's brother and her subsequent grieving for Ned. In an accessible, uncluttered style, she delicately balances historical fact with our own contemporary ­values. It's especially refreshing that Nell's literacy (rare, if not outright anachronistic, for a girl of her status) leads her to the works of medieval women writers for consolation and inspiration for her own future.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021