2007  AML Award: Young Adult Literature Honorable Mention

Presented to:
Mette Ivie Harrison

For:
The Princess and the Hound

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The Princess and the Hound takes what is possibly the most overused cliché in fantasy literature--the person who can communicate with animals--and turns it into a deeply moving tale of loss and belonging. Though the plot focuses mainly on the ramifications of having a talent that can mean death if you use it and death if you neglect it, the center of the story is the relationship between two young people who have, for different reasons, never truly been able to trust another human being. As Prince George does his best to convince Princess Beatrice, his affianced bride and a total stranger, that theirs should be more than a marriage of diplomatic necessity, he learns that he has as much changing to do as she does--and that the first person he should learn to trust is himself. The novel’s climax brings the stories of George, the princess, and her hound together with the fulfillment of an ancient legend, initiating a change that will affect not only them but, eventually, the world. In the end, though they still have a long way to go, they have the promise that the beginning they’ve made will be a foundation on which to build a life together.

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