Elizabeth, Kathryn Lasky

While the target audience for this book is 12-14, I found it a highly enjoyable read, despite the fact that my own age was well above the fore-mentioned audience. Elizabeth is a part of the 'My Royal Story' series, commissioned by Scholastic. Elizabeth is the fictional diary of the real tutor princess, daughter of King Henry the V111, and later Queen of England. The remarkable thing about this book is that (while you are absorbing facts and dates) the simple language makes the whole story far more enjoyable. If you possess an interest in Tutor History, then these books make for a cute read, and serve to brush up your history while providing historical information about the Tutor Period. 

If you, however, possess no interest in history, then these books are the perfect way to begin! They are simple to digest, and make for good, light, summer reading. As these books are quiet cheap (about seven pounds, ten dollars Australian or eleven dollars US), they are perfect books for toting around during a school or work day. These books are particularly fantastic for teenagers, and can cultivate an interest for Tutor history.

Kathryn Lasky

Elizabeth begins in 1544, and Princess Elizabeth is the daughter of the ill-fated queen, Anne Boleyn. Her father, Henry V111, has just banished her to yet another country house. Her step sister (Queen Mary, otherwise known as Bloody Mary) hates her, and her father indulges her and ignores her by turns. In and out of favour as her father's unfortunate wives come and go, what does the future hold for an inconvenient, invisible princess?

The author of the My Royal Story series is Kathryn Lasky. This series was published from 1999 to 2005, as The Royal Diaries. It has just been re-released under My Royal Story. The unique thing about this series is that they do not just cover one country or period of time. Instead, they focus on royal women from all over the globe, and from different periods of time. The series even includes less-known royal women, such as The Lady  of Ch'aio Kuo of the Hsien. All in all, they make for good light reading material.

Statistics 

Original Language: English
Title: Elizabeth, My Royal Story (also The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth 1- Red Rose of the House of Tutor)
Author: Kathryn Lasky (see links section for a full list of series authors)
Publication Date: 2010, first edition 2002
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Scholastic Children's Books
Country/ Languages: available only in English
Pages: 232 (2010 edition)
Series: My Royal Story, also The Royal Diaries
Followed By: Mary, Queen of Scots
Film Adaptation: In 2000, HBO created three made for TV movies based on three books from the Royal Story series: Elizabeth, Isabel and Cleopatra
Book Tip: Although they have just been re-released, these books can sometimes be hard to procure, unless you visit the right book store. I would recommend ordering several online, as you can generally read one book in a few days. These books only come in paper backs, so they are easy to carry with you.

Author's Other Works

1. Camp Princess Series (two books)
2. The Royal Diaries (five books)
3. Dear America Series (four books)
4. My Name is America (one book)
5. My America (three books)
6. Daughters of the Sea (two books)
7. Guardians of Ga'Hoole: now a motion picture (seventeen books
8. Starbuck Family Adventures (three books)
9. Wolves of the Beyond (five books)
10. Stand-Alone Titles (seventeen books)
11. Young Adults Non-Fiction (thirteen)
12. Picture Books (thirty one books)
13. Adult (six books, one under the pseudonym of E.L.Swan)
14. Portraits (one book)

You May Buy Elizabeth At:


1. Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elizabeth-Royal-Story-Kathryn-Lasky/dp/1407116215
2. Fishpond.com:http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Elizabeth-My-Royal-Story-Kathryn-Lasky/9781407116211
3. Scholastic Store: https://www.scool.scholastic.com.au/store/Jadehttp.dll?Store&PrdId=7984621&H04=3
4. Borders:http://www.borders.com.au/book/elizabeth/8499656/

Other Links:

1. Through the Looking Glass, Kathryn Lasky:http://lookingglassreview.com/html/kathryn_lasky.html 
2. The Owl Fantasy Forum, Interveiw with Kathryn Lasky:http://www.owlpages.info/fantasy/viewtopic.php?t=910
3. Wikipedia, My Royal Story (list of authors) :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Royal_Story
4. Wikipedia, Kathryn Lasky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Lasky

Enjoy and thank you for reading! Hahaha, I'm so excited, my blog has received some visitors! Please, if you read my blog, or find any of the information useful (or have any sort of request/ comment), feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line! Thank you again to anyone who supports The Inkspell Project!