Nontraditional Princesses

  • A DOOR IN THE HEDGE BY Robin McKinley
  • Beauty and Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley
  • Blue Sword
  • CASTLE WAITING: THE LUCKY ROAD by Linda Medley, features non-traditional fairy tale characters galore (including heroine Lady Jain). (graphic novel)
  • Court Duel and Crown Duel by Sherwood
  • Dark Materials Series... Phillip Pullman
  • Dragons" series by Patricia Wrede. ("Dealing With Dragons etc.) stars an unconventional princess Cimorene who runs away from home to become a dragon's Princess rather than marry one of the brainless princes who have come to visit.
  • Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patricia C Wrede.  Book 1, Dealing with Dragons, features highly unconventional princess Cimorene who runs away to live with a dragon to avoid having to marry a very dull prince.  She greatly enjoys being a dragons princess, but hates having to spend so much time driving away would be rescuers in the forms of knights and princes. A very funny take on all things fairy tale related.
  • FEARLESS GIRLS, WISE WOMEN, AND BELOVED SISTERS edited by Kathleen Ragan.
  • Goose Chase (Patrice Kindl) has an unconventional goose girl who is escaping 2 really unpleasant suitors.
  • Hero & the Crown
  • Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
  • KISSING THE WITCH (Lesbian princesses). Emma Donaghue
  • MERIDIAN BY Barbara Kessel has a strong teen female heroine who's the ruler of her city-state. (graphic novel)
  • NOT ONE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS: WORLD FOLKTALES FOR STRONG GIRLS by Jane Yolen
  • Paper Bag princess,
  • Petranella, by Jay Williams -  the tale of a princess who searches for her own prince to rescue so they can return to her home and rule her kingdom together.  As someone mentioned previously, Jay Williams (co-author of the Danny Dunn books I adored) wrote a number of "liberated" picture books in the early 70s.  Petranella is my favorite of all of these and is still in print.  The compilation, _The Practical Princess_, is o/p.
  • Princess smarty-pants
  • PRINCESS SMARTYPANTS by Babette Cole,
  • ROSE by Jeff Smith, is another strong heroine GN (the prequel to the BONE series). (graphic novel)
  • Spindle's End BY Robin McKinley
  • The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, by Patricia McKillip.
  • THE MAID OF THE NORTH: FEMINIST FOLKTALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD by Ethel Johnston Phelps
  • THE ORDINARY PRINCESS by M.
  • The Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine. These are in addition to ELLA ENCHANTED.
  • The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf by Gerald Morris
  • THE STORYTELLING PRINCESS by Rafe Martin,
  • The Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood (Meredith Pierce) has Brown Hannah on a quest as well.
  • The Two Princesses of Bamarre (Gail Levine) are on a quest.
  • The Westmark Trilogy, by Lloyd Alexander, has a princess who is a thief and street urchin.
  • THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS by Katherine Paterson.
  • Wren series by Sherwood Smith. Though the main character, Wren, is not a princess, her best friend is.  In _Wren to the Rescue_, both are in an orphanage when Wren finds out her friend is really a princess and ends up rescuing her when she is kidnapped.  However, in the third book, _Wren's War_, the country is at war, the princess' parents have been killed, and the princess rounds up an army to defeat the invaders, with the help of her friends.
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