Chapter Book 6 / Ella Enchanted

Title	Ella Enchanted
Author	Gail Carson Levine
Illustrator	N/A
Publication Year	1997
Awards	Newbery Honor
Publisher	Harper Collins
ISBN	0-06-027510-3
Readability Score (GLE = Grade Level Equivalent)	Lexile	670L
	DRA	50
	GLE	5.1
	Guided Reading	U
Genre /      Sub-Genre	Chapter Book / Fantasy
Theme	Ella wants to get rid of her “gift”
Primary Character	Ella
Secondary Characters	Prince Charmont, Mandy, Hattie, Olive, Dame Ogla, Lucinda, and Ella's Father
Classroom Use	I would use this book in a classroom to teach about women’s experience, loyalty, pride and self-esteem.
Book Summary	Ella was given the gift of obedience at birth. Ella’s mom dies and she is then sent to a finishing school. Two girls that Ella is with, Hattie and Olive, make Ella’s life hard. Hattie finds out that Ella is obedient and uses it against her. At finishing school, Ella has one good friend and that is Areida. Hattie doesn't like the friendship and orders Ella to end her friendship. Ella is devastated and leaves school in order to avoid the order. She is determined to find the fairy who gave her the gift of obedience so she can take it away. She is attacked by ogres on her way to a giant's farm, where the fairy is. Her father also happens to be there. She goes home with her father who tries to force her to remarry in order to regain their fortune. It doesn't work out, so her father marries Dame Olga, the father of Hattie and Olive. As soon as her father goes away, Dame Olga turns Ella into a servant. Ella is very unhappy, but she and Char have been writing letters to each other. She falls in love with Char, but doesn't know how he feels about her. One day she gets a letter from Char saying that he loves her and wants her to marry him. Ella wants to, but she realizes that if she marries Char someone would figure out that she is obedient and use it to harm Char. She writes a letter to Char pretending to be Hattie that says Ella is a flirt who was misleading him all along. Ella's heart is broken, and she desperately wants to see Char again. Her chance comes when a ball is being held to welcome Char back home. She decides to go, but she is masked and won't let Char see her face.  On the third night of the ball, Hattie snatches off Ella's mask and Char sees that she is Ella. Ella breaks down crying, saying that the letter wasn't true and she loves him. Char is happy, and asks her to marry him. Ella knows she can't, but Hattie wants Char to marry Ella because she can force Ella to give her money. Hattie orders her to marry Char. Ella won't let the words come out of her mouth. She breaks the curse and marries Char.