Stepsister

Jennifer Donnelly

May 2019 · Sold by Scholastic Inc.

About this ebook

* "Printz Honor winner Donnelly offers up a stunningly focused story that rips into the heart of familiar fairy tale. Isabelle [is] a shattered but not unreedemable girl with a warrior's heart." -- Booklist, starred review

An instant New York Times bestseller

Optioned for film by Lynette Howell Taylor, the producer of A Star is Born and Bruna Papandrea, producer of Big Little Lies

A Seventeen Best of the Year

Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal

An American Librarian Association-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults book

An American Library Association Feminist Book Project book

A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year

Isabelle should be blissfully happy -- she's about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn't the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince's heart. She's the ugly stepsister who cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella's shoe . . . which is now filling with blood.

Isabelle tried to fit in. She cut away pieces of herself in order to become pretty. Sweet. More like Cinderella. But that only made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Now she has a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

Evoking the darker, original version of the Cinderella story, Stepsister shows us that ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and uses Jennifer Donnelly's trademark wit and wisdom to send an overlooked character on a journey toward empowerment, redemption . . . and a new definition of beauty.

Ratings and reviews

This novel is a retelling of the classic “Cinderella” fairy tale with the point of view of being one of the “evil” stepsisters. The story starts at the moment when Cinderella and her two stepsisters are trying on the glass shoe that will identify the true love of the Prince. This novel focuses on Isabella, the older of the two stepsisters. The reader is given the opportunity to see the glass slipper process from a different perspective and how it changed an entire family in less than one hour. The story moves forward as Isabella continues to live with the consequences of that day and watches as Cinderella is beloved by all. While the country loves Cinderella unconditionally, everyone turns on Isabella, her younger sister, and her mother for their actions without considering the actions that led to those decisions. The novel takes the reader on a deep psychological trip as Isabella dives deep into herself and the turn of events that took three little girls from best of friends to relationships filled with jealousy, frustration, betrayal, secrets, and mistrust. Isabella is presented as a brave, self-assured young girl that is turned into a bitter, jealous, fearful young woman by the words and actions of the adults in her life. As Fate and Chance fight over the outcome of Isabella’s destiny, she has to make amends with old hurts and pains in order to discover her true self. I loved this novel and could not put it down. I originally thought this novel would be a fluff piece where one of the stepsisters finds true love which turns her “cold evil” heart into a beating beacon of romance. However, the author took me down a lane of self-discovery and wonder. I saw myself in Isabella. I think any person would be able to identify with Isabella. We have all had doubts about ourselves and try to fit in with whatever is acceptable. This novel puts a spotlight on how other people’s beliefs about beauty, love, gender roles, and bravery impact our own thoughts about ourselves. As Isabella gained insight into what has impacted her, positively and negatively, and kept her jealousy and hate going. The author humanized all of the characters, even Cinderella, which made the transition of Isabelle even more powerful. This novel is a must read by anyone that has felt they have been told, directly and indirectly, to be “normal” or like everyone else. Remember happiness comes from being whole and not fragmented.

I like it but I can't focus on where she is like she was on her way to see Ella but than I blinked and she is getting married to Hugo and then spawns somewhere else and decides she does not want to get married to him

I didn't read this book called stepsisters yet. By jennifer connelly .

About the author

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of A Northern Light, which was awarded a Printz Honor and a Carnegie Medal; Revolution (named a Best Book by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and the Chicago Public Library, and nominated for a Carnegie Medal); the Deep Blue series; and many other books for young readers, including Lost in a Book, which spent more than 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley.