Silver Woven in My Hair

Thursey is too strong-willed to be intimidated by her stepsisters with their cruel taunts claiming that her father died a coward in the recent wars. She defies them, hiding the little books she makes that preserve a variety of Cinderella stories from around the world--tales she hears from travelers on the high road who take shelter at the inn run by her stepmother. She knows the sisters would destroy the small, handmade books, for in their view, it is unnatural for a common girl to know how to read.   But when the king's summer gala draws near and Thursey is, as usual, left at home, she takes charge of her own fate. With help from a traveling monk and a friendly goatherd, she secretly prepares to attend the ball. Does she have help, as well, from the ugly white mare whom she loves? And will she gain more than a rare evening of happiness, perhaps even the joy of new-found love?   This vivid Cinderella retelling with a spunky and inventive heroine, set in a medieval European village, is a romance enjoyed by YA readers as well as younger ones.