Age 11-14

This swashbuckling adventure by a prizewinning French author is about a teenage princess who makes her escape from her homeland to avoid an arranged marriage with an older prince by embarking on a hazardous journey involving shipwreck, barbarian tribes and pursuit by a dangerous enemy. Her destiny becomes bound up with that of a blue-eyed young man, reeling from a shameful revelation about his respected father, who joins the expedition to bring her back, which leads to an ill-fated romance. Although it is set in an unreal world, the story is not dependent on sorcery and spells; it occupies the territory of wish-fulfilment rather than magic wishes, and has a universal teenage theme of finding your identity and falling in love. With a cast of loyal servants, scheming politicians, cheeky boys, feisty girls, kindly peasants, rough sailors and fearsome villains, this is an energetic pageturner in a fine storytelling tradition with enough action and emotion to put wind in its sails and a weepy ending. And the translator, the masterly Anthea Bell, ensures that nothing is lost of the original.

(Bloomsbury £12.99)

Explore Books

• Book Extracts

• Book Reviews

• Books Group

• Audio Books

Times Recommends

• If you only buy one book this Christmas make sure it's...
• The Times Christmas Books 2008: Gifts
• 10 Books Not To Read Before You Die