Princess Nevermore

The worlds of the fairy-tale past and the workaday present collide in this suspenseful and poignant fantasy about a magic princess who briefly sojourns in middle America. Sixteen-year-old Princess Quinn's only diversion in the underground kingdom of Mandria consists of watching the ``outer-earth'' people through the waters of a wishing pool. Betraying his master's trust, an apprentice wizard sends Quinn to the outer world, where she meets up with teenagers Sally and Adam Dover and their mysteriously wise grandfather Mondo. One day melts into the next, and soon the princess wishes to keep her newfound life-and love-even when Mondo tells her a terrible, cautionary secret. Then Quinn learns that she is in mortal danger, and must put her emotions aside and act to save not only herself, but all Mandria. While spinning an enthralling yarn, Regan (the Ghost Twins series) has some sly fun in using courtly language to describe modern goings-on (in a high school girls' room, ``[a] dozen maidens vied for a spot in front of each glass, combing their hair and coloring their faces''). A real page-turner, her story will leave readers' heartstrings quivering delightedly. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)