Pulling Princes

"Funny expose of It-girl school life." ELLE GIRL UK

"If you have ever wondered what really goes on behind the locked gates of the ancient British Boarding Schools, this series holds the key." @BookChitChat

Set in a fictional Eton College where Princes William and Harry attended & the nearby St Mary's Ascot school attended by Princess Caroline of Monaco and which the authors daughter attended, The Pulling Princes series provides a, "deliciously naughty insider's guide to the midnight feasts, incredibly close friendships & romances of entitled toffs, British aristocratic & royal teenagers."

Although entirely fictional, the books accurate portrayal of the hitherto closed world of Royal teens, created feverish speculation and comparisons to actual royals and Aristocratic teens - specifically Prince William and Prince Harry - were inevitable. After a heated bidding war, Bloomsbury won the USA rights to the series at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2004.

The books are narrated from the perspective of a fish out of water American, Calypso Kelly who goes from teased outsider - enduring attacks on her by the British tabloids, teasing by the toffs and taunts from the Horrible Hon.s' - before she eventually beats them at their own game and manages to not only charm all the girls but pull the Prince himself!

KLIAT REVIEW

This is a first YA novel by an experienced British author best known for adult comedy novels. O'Connell once attended a Catholic boarding school in England, as do her own three children, and so she is comfortable describing the life Calypso leads at just such a school. Calypso is actually an American, sent to St. Augustine's by her California parents; as the story begins she still feels like a misfit, even after several years at the place. Now 14 years old, she has a new roommate and her life changes. She and her one true friend. Star (daughter of a rock star), are sharing a room with The Honorable Georgina Castle Orpington, and she and Star finally are learning what it is like to connect with the British aristocracy, for better and for worse. Calypso also meets Freddie, a royal prince, in a fencing lesson with the nearby boys' school. They strike up a flirtation that escalates into an incident that gets into all the British tabloids.

But this doesn't give you any idea of just how outrageously funny this story is: O'Connell writes just about everything for laughs. She satirizes the rich girls and their obsessions. She is kind toward the nuns who run the school, who truly are intelligent, tolerant, and loving in their dealings with their wacky students. The girls hide vodka in their Body Shop bottles, they smoke and then spray Febreze around to cover the smell, they swear and plot against one another; they use their intelligence and creativity in madcap ways, and they actually do know how to be loyal friends. This book (could it be first of a series?) fits right in with other funny British teenage stories, but I think it has carved out its own niche in a posh boarding school setting.

"Funny expose of It-girl school life." ELLE GIRL UK

"Budding Anglophiles ....will soak up the flood of upper-class British culture in this book." WASHINGTON COUNTY LIBRARY

"A Right Royal Read!" MAYFAIR TIMES

"Bridget Jones for the early teen set."- WASHINGTON POST USA

"Give this to fans of Princess Mia and Georgia Nicholson as well as to readers of O'Connell's previous Pulling Princes." BOOKLIST, USA

"It is sure to have fans of the previous novels rolling on the floor laughing their royal crowns off." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, USA

"Outrageously funny and a serious contender for the teen chick-lit throne." — THE BOOKSELLER on Pulling Princes.