Ella Enchanted

By Gail Carson Levine

This is one of those cases where the only thing a movie and book have in common is the name of the characters. And the fact Ella has been enchanted with the gift of obedience. Everything else is . . . well . . . something else. Fortunately, I am the only living individual who does not condemn a film if it is not like the book (or vice versa) so long as the film is consistent with the story it tells (and the book is consistent with its own story.) As oddly political as I found the movie, there is nothing political about the book. It is simply the story of Ella and how she copes with her enchantment and the complications it throws her way. As much as I enjoyed the movie, I also enjoyed the book. They are different enough that each is a treat in its own right.