Released in the late 90s, this children’s series by Gabrielle Charbonnet (pen name of Cate Tiernan, author of the fantasy Sweeps series among others involving witches,w warlocks and wiccan for adults) follows the adventures of six girls living in Orlando, Florida who have a big secret. Not only do their lives echo their fav Disney princesses, but they are Disney Princesses.

It brought me immediately to that wonderful imagination of childhood and wonder as the girls are convinced of their “real” identities, using it as a guide to see magic everywhere they are, to be kind to others, and solve their problems through the magic of friendship. Schmaltzy but adorable.

I also really enjoyed the combination of the girls’ imagination and the ambiguity that there maybe is a bit of magic in their lives even as adults may dismiss it as a coincidence or overzealous fantasy.

Each of the girls is unique, harboring the traits of each Disney princess (Jasmine, Belle, Snow White, Ariel, Pocohontas, Cinderella) but in a more realistic way that relates to the current experiences in 90s Florida.

Plus it has some interesting 90s slang I never heard of like ‘get glossy’ and ‘blow my hair back’ which. . . yeah, I can see why they have not stayed in the mainstream.

Anyway, let’s get to it, my top 5 favorites.

1. One Pet Too Many: Paula is my favorite of the girls, not only as the eldest but as someone who is an animal-lover, mature and mellow. She’s the peace-maker of the group and wears her heart on her sleeve, at least when it comes to her animal rescues so she’s heartbroken that her parents won’t let her keep an injured armadillo she rescued. So, like in any good kid sitcom, she hides it in her closet. There’s a good lesson here about friendship (as one of the subplots is Ariel’s seeming allergic reaction to all of Paula’s pets and the fur that’s on all her clothes) as well as nature and freedom.
2. Cinderella’s Castle: Ella is still adjusting to her new life with her stepfamily (not cruel as in the movie, but she doesn’t click with them as she imagined she would) and her newfound realization that she is. . . . kinda boring. She wants to shake things up and not be old, dependable Ella. First with a new wardrobe, then by bringing a fantastic cake for the class party. Unfortunately, her masterpiece isn’t working out as she wants which is driving organized, perfectionist Ella crazy. Charbonnet draws an interesting arc for Ella as she realizes that she is partly to blame for her uncomfortableness with her stepfamily, still stuck in the idea of doing all the work herself just as she had done when it was just she and her Dad. Ella has to learn to embrace her family and accept their help as much as she takes her friends’ help.
3. Beauty’s Revenge: Isabelle’s beast is no handsome prince but her annoying next door neighbor. Kenny has played pranks on Isabelle and her friends all her life, but unfortunately, their parents are friends and Isabelle’s parents commit the greatest betrayal when they have a chicken pox Kenny stay over for a week while his parents go on a business trip. Living in close quarters with Kenny is the worst and spurs Isabelle to commit some pranks of her own. I’ll admit, Isabelle’s plan was sort of ingenious and funny, but the resolution between the two is nicely tied in with the class’ ancestors project. They emerge from the experience with . . . well not a new friendship but a trice but who knows how long that’ll last.
4. And Sleepy Makes Seven: This one gets on the list because it was the first one I read after finding it in a used bookstore in Madrid. Yukiko already has five siblings, all boys, and she desperately wants her new sibling to be a sister. It’s a cliche plot but it was engaging enough with its sweet friendship and magic to make me remember and finally urge me to buy the rest of the series.
5. Adventure in Walt Disney World: The super special features the POV of all the girls when they get a surprise trip to the Disney Institute. But impulsive Ariel accidentally mixes up the forms and the girls end up in classes they have no interest in (shy Ella in improv, pacifist Paula learning karate, Jasmine learning storytelling etc.). But Paula urges them that this might be a magic test and that they should step out of their comfort zones. Which they do, and they all discover something new about their abilities and what they believe they could do. It has all the adventure as the title suggests in the happiest place on Earth with fun descriptions of the different, classes, rides and whatnot. Unfortunately, it gets number five because even though it’s longer than the other books, it still felt surface level and I wished it had been longer to see the girls growing more in each of their classes.