The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

"But I can't marry Jorge! We don't love each other!"
My mother gave me a look so cold that I stepped back a pace. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked. "Husbands and wives who love each other are the exception, not the rule. Stop whining and be happy that he wants your hand at all. Not many princes would be willing to marry someone as awkward as you. Despite all my efforts, you have few social graces. If only you'd been born a boy as your father and I had wanted! Maybe then I could have made comething of you. As it is, this match is the best that you can hope for, so I expect you to be gracious about it. Now see what you've done! I can feel my headache returning."
Marrying Jorge would be a terrible mistake. (23)

Out of pure frustration, Princess Emeralda runs away from the castle, rather than having to deal with her soon to be fiance Jorge. It's in the neighboring swamp that she encounters a frog, who claims to be Prince Eadric turned into a frog by a spell that can only be broken by a kiss. Princess Emeralda feels she has nothing else left to loose, so she puckers up, first wiping the dead fly legs from his mouth. The kiss has disasterous consequences, forcing Emeralda and Eadric to travel to the scene of the first enchantment to find a solution to the problem.

The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker, served as inspiration for Disney's newest movie The Princess and the Frog, due to hit theatres this weekend. If you like this book, try the rest in the series.

AMY