The Princess Curse: A Conversation with Merrie Haskell and Ayn Reineke

Presented by The Author's Forum and the Ann Arbor Book Festival Saturday, June 23, 2012 3:15 PM Shapiro Undergraduate Library Lobby Book signing and sale courtesy of Barnes and Noble at the University of Michigan

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Twelve princesses suffer from a puzzling--and downright silly--curse. Ridiculous though the curse may be, whoever breaks it will win a handsome reward. Sharp-witted Reveka, an herbalist's apprentice, has little use for princesses, with their snooty attitudes and impractical clothing. She does, however, have use for the reward money that could buy her a position as a master herbalist. But curses don't like to be broken, and Reveka's efforts lead her to deeper mysteries. As she struggles to understand the curse, she meets a shadowy stranger (as charming as he is unsettling) and discovers a blighted land in desperate need of healing. Soon the irreverent apprentice is faced with a daunting choice--will she break the curse at the peril of her own soul?

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Merrie Haskell

Merrie Haskell's first book, The Princess Curse, debuted in 2011, and was a Junior Library Guild selection. Her next book, Handbook for Dragon Slayers, is forthcoming in Summer 2013 from HarperCollins. Merrie attended the Residential College of the University of Michigan, where she earned a BA in biological anthropology. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Nature, Strange Horizons, and Unplugged: The Year's Best Online Fiction. She lives in Saline, Michigan, with her husband and stepdaughter. Merrie works in a library in Ann Arbor with more than 7 million books, and she finds this to be just about the right number.

Ayn Reineke

Ayn Reineke works in the offices of the LSA Associate and Assistant Deans for Undergraduate Education. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

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The Author's Forum is a collaboration between the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan Library, Great Lakes Literary Arts Center, and the Ann Arbor Book Festival.

For more info on this event, visit http://www.lsa.umich.edu/humanities/events.