June Bargain Ebooks: Lots of Great Choices

It's a new month which means it's a new list on the monthly Kindle books for $3.99 or less. This is one of the strongest lists in a while--there are quite a few children's and YA titles this time, too, probably in anticipation of summer reading needs. I picked some of the titles most pertinent to SurLaLune readers to share here.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christoper Healy is $1.99 and was a favorite of my niece Leighton upon its release. So much so that she left my house with my copy and we paid full price for the rest of the trilogy upon release.

Book description:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a completely original take on the world of fairy tales, the truth about what happens after “happily ever after.” It’s a must-have for middle grade readers who enjoy their fantasy adventures mixed with the humor of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Witty black-and-white drawings by Todd Harris add to the fun.

The Council of Mirrors (The Sisters Grimm Book 9) by Michael Buckley is $1.99. I didn't own this one in ebook yet so I bought it, too. The final book of the Grimm Sister series.

Book description:

In the final volume in the Sisters Grimm series, Sabrina, Daphne, and the rest of the Grimms and their friends must face off against the Master to decide the fate of Ferryport Landing--and the world. When Mirror fails to escape the barrier using Granny Relda's body, he turns to his plan B: killing all the Grimms so that the magical barrier collapses. In the meantime, Sabrina has gathered the other magic mirrors as advisors on how to deal with their mortal enemy. They tell her to join forces with the Scarlet Hand against Mirror, in exchange for offering all the citizens of Ferryport Landing their freedom. This final chapter is the end of the road for several beloved characters, but the conclusion is sure to satisfy devoted fans of the series.

Storybound by Marissa Burt is also $1.99. This is part one of a two part series.

Book description:

When Una Fairchild stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, she thinks nothing of opening the cover and diving in. But instead of paging through a regular novel, Una suddenly finds herself Written In to the land of Story—a world filled with Heroes and Villains and fairy-tale characters.

But not everything in Story is as magical as it seems. Una must figure out why she has been Written In—and fast—before anyone else discovers her secret. Together with her new friend Peter and a talking cat named Sam, Una digs deep into Story's shadowy past. She quickly realizes that she is tied to the world in ways she never could have imagined—and it might be up to her to save it.

Little Sister And The Month Brothers by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers is also $1.99. This is one of my favorite versions of the hundreds of ATU 480 Kind and Unkind Girls tales, which are often misidentified as ATU 510 Cinderella, like in the description for this book.

Book description:

Little Sister is very busy doing all the work around the house and the yard. But she doesn’t mind: she sings and hums, and she grows prettier and prettier as she does her chores. Her wicked stepmother and stepsister can’t stand the fact that Little Sister is so happy. One day, they tell Little Sister to bring home violets in the middle of winter—or not to come home at all!

How Little Sister gets help from the Month Brothers in the forest offers a delightful twist on this Slavic version of Cinderella.

Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood is $1.99, too. Not fairy tale related but a fantasy with culinary elements that will hopefully appeal to those kids who like to watch Food and Cooking channels with their parents.

Book description:

Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. “Aunt” Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, nonmagical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun.

So Rose and her siblings experi-ment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke.

A few Love Muffins and a few dozen Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?

Kathryn Littlewood’s culinary caper blends rich emotional flavor with truly magical wit, yielding one heaping portion of hilarious family adventure.

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs is $1.99. A mermaid book for the beach.

Book description:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life.

When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike is also $1.99. A fairy book to read on the beach.

Book description:

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.