Charmed, I’m Sure

In this playful update of a classic fairy tale, Rosamunde White Charming, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming (who now run a website called Charming Lifestyles), would “be happy to swear off romance forever if I weren’t Rosie Charming with a family legacy to uphold.” Rosie is desperate for a date to her Manhattan middle school dance, but she takes all the wrong advice to reach her goal. When Rosie’s mother gives her an expensive makeover and a bejeweled, talking compact, the formerly kind and low-key teen starts to change, taking her lead from the mirror’s dark source. Focused on being “the fairest in the land,” Rosie loses sight of who she really is, hurting her friends and her chances for the right date. Readers will enjoy Littman’s (Backlash) riffs on and jabs at the original story (on how Rosie’s parents met: “Every time I imagine being totally passed out and waking up to find some strange guy kissing me, all I think is, ‘Eww, nope! Nope! Nope!’ ”) and take heart in the underlying message about being true to oneself. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)