Leslie Greaves Radloff (Children's Literature)
The traditional tale Shannon Hale has updated about the princess Saren and her maid, who are sealed inside a stone tower by the princess’ father because she refuses to marry the man of his choice, is part Rapunzel--suitors come wishing the princess’ hand--part Beauty and the Beast--one of the suitors changes shape into an ugly creature--and part 20th century fairy tale, where the maid’s gumption and grit get things done. The book seems somewhat unevenly written. After being sealed in the tower, the princess is all too ready to give up. It is Dashti the maid who metes out the food supplies so they will last the entire seven years. The princess begins to eat secretly while Dashti fends off the rats which have crept into the grain stores. And it is Dashti who speaks to the Princess’ true love, Khan Tegus when he comes hoping to rescue Saren, and also when Lord Kahsar, the man her father wishes her to marry, comes gloating. Through twists and turns the two young women escape from the tower and make their way to the kingdom of Khan Tegus, arriving just in time for wedding festivities. Dashti is once again called on to solve the problems of the two because Saren is too frightened to identify herself. The conclusion to the story comes quickly and predictably: Dashti must fight the evil Lord Kahsar to keep the realm safe. Readers are treated to a rousing tale of a strong spirited “mucker” or storyteller/singer of songs and a princess who has little gumption when first met. Through their trials both grow and discover they are quite capable of many things. Young readers will not be put off by the modern tone of some of the conversation or the songs Dashti sings that have no music or rhythm. For an updated fairy tale, this provides interesting reading. 2007, Bloomsbury Books for Children, $17.95. Ages 12 up.

Kate Reynolds (Childrens Book and Play Review, November/December 2007 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Dashti swore service to Lady Saren and immediately found herself locked in a tower for seven years, sharing in her mistress's punishment for refusing to marry Lord Khasar and instead choosing Khan Tegus. The fifteen year old maid keeps a journal of their time in the tower and of their adventure after they escape two and a half years into their confinement. While based on a little-known Grimm fairytale, Hale's story takes on a shape of its own with the maid, rather than the lady, as the central character. The plot is fairly predictable but the characterization and language are the real draw. Hale depicts Dashti as a resourceful young woman whose determination allows the two to survive and even thrive while not allowing her character to become too perfect or unbelievable. Saren's tenuous emotional and mental stability add another aspect of reality. The greatest weakness of Book of a Thousand Days is the pacing. The plot is rather slow until the climax, denouement and resolution all rush in the last 60 or so pages. However, few readers are likely to care much with the excitement of the battle against Lord Khasar and the anticipated fairy tale romance ending. Recommended for preteen and teenage girls, especially fans of Hale's previous works. Rating: Dependable. Reading Level: Young adult. Category: Fantasy fiction Fantasy fiction. 2007, Bloomsbury, 308 p., $17.95. © 2002, Brigham Young University.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2008)
Dashti has only just arrived to take her place as Lady Saren’s maid when the two are locked in a stone tower. It is Lady Saren’s punishment for refusing to marry Lord Khasar. Saren languishes in the tower, her soul so troubled that even Dashti’s skill with healing songs doesn’t help. A visit from Khan Tegus, the young man to whom Saren has promised herself, brings no change: Saren insist that Dashti speak for her through the small window that gives them a glimpse of the outside world. Worse, she insists Dashti pretend to be her, and the maid is shocked at the severity of her own transgression even as she enjoys the verbal exchanges with the young Khan. A visit from Lord Khasar is far more frightening; his anger at being refused poses a threat not just to Saren and Dashti but to the entire kingdom. The two young women escape and discover devastation at the hands of Khasar’s army. Making their way to the realm of Khan Tegus, the two find work as kitchen maids when Saren refuses to reveal herself. Shannon Hale’s riveting story of loyalty, sacrifice, and love builds to a dramatic climax as word comes of Khasar’s army marching toward the gates. Hale’s fantsy is based on a tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm (“Maid Maleen”) and is set against a richly imagined backdrop inspired by medieval Mongolia. Told in the eloquent voice of Dashti, a peasant girl with a poet’s heart, the graceful narrative features spot illustrations by James Noel Smith in a shining tale of courage and heart. CCBC Category: Fiction for Young Adults. 2007, Bloomsbury, 306 pages, $17.95. Ages 11-15.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 18))
A rousing, even spellbinding tale—with outlines in the Grimms' Maid Maleen—is set in medieval Mongolia and told in journal form. Dashti is maid and scribe to Lady Saren, whose father has bricked both of them in a tower for Saren's crime of refusing to be married to vicious lord Khasar. Dashti knows healing songs from the steppes, and she needs them, as Saren is what we would now call schizophrenic. The girls' captivity is eased at first by visits of the Khan Tegus, but the Khasar visits, too, and threatens to burn the tower with them inside. The rats that have eaten their food supply also tunnel a way out, so they escape—and find Saren's father's city destroyed. They make their way to Khan Tegus, where both girls serve hidden in his kitchen. Dashti's healing songs are needed in a war between Khasar and Tegus, and who she is, and who they are, come forth in a strongly presented climax. Dashti's voice is bright and true; Hale captures her sturdy personality, Saren's mental fragility and Khan Tegus's romantic warrior as vibrantly as she limns the stark terror of the Mongolian cold and the ugly spirit from which Khasar draws his strength. 2007, Bloomsbury, 320p, $17.95. Category: Fantasy. Ages 12 to 15. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Betsy Ruffin (Library Media Connection, January 2008)
Drawing from a classic Grimm's fairy tale and Mongolian tradition, this is an engaging tale of a resourceful maid and her emotionally fragile mistress. Set in medieval times, Dashti comes to Titor's Garden, one of the Eight Realms, to find work. She becomes maid to Lady Saren just as Saren is confined to a tower for refusing to marry Lord Khasar. They are given food and other items to last for seven years, and then the tower is bricked up except for a hole for emptying waste. When the food begins to run out after three years, Dashti finds a way out of the tower, and the two begin a journey to the realm of Kahn Tegus. After arriving, the two go to work in the kitchen. Dashti, brave and intelligent, helps Saren and the khan, whose realm faces attack. In the end, she marries Khan Tegus. Written as a journal, the book has a historical feel with fantasy elements. Drawings among the entries help the reader visualize unfamiliar elements and give insight into the characters. The book is another solid work from this Newbury Honor Medal winner. Recommended. 2007, Bloomsbury Children's Books, 320pp., $17.95 hc. Ages 11 up.

Phyllis Thompson (The ALAN Review, Summer 2008 (Vol. 35, No. 3))
Princess Saren is in love with Khan Tegus but betrothed to the dark Lord Khasar. Saren fears him, for good reason, and rejects the match. As punishment for her rebelliousness, her father locks her in a windowless tower for seven years. As the novel opens, Princess Saren is alone, except for the companionship of her mucker maid, Dashti. In this recasting of Grimm’s classic fairy tale, Newberry Award winning author Shannon Hale once again delights modern audiences with a feisty, female protagonist, who not only must come into her own but also protect the fearful, insecure Princess from herself as well as from others who would do her harm. Young adult girls, who are also on their own journeys of self-discovery, will be enchanted by this tale about female friendships, healing, and coming of age amidst the real-world tensions of betrayal, abandonment, deception, and loss. Discussion of literary elements, such as the narrative structure of fairy tales or the traditional use of character types, will make this book a productive companion to a study of classic tales in the ELA classroom. Category: Female Friendship/Healing. YA--Young Adult. 2007, Bloomsbury, 306 pp., $17.95. Ages young adult.Johnson City, TN

Karen Coats (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, October 2007 (Vol. 61, No. 2))
Dashti, a poor, orphaned peasant girl with healing powers, is offered a choice on her first day as maid to Lady Saren: she can return to her life as a peasant, or she can agree to accompany Lady Saren on a seven-year imprisonment in a tower. Dazzled by the opportunity to serve one of the fabled Ancestors, Dashti chooses the tower, and the two women are walled up and left to their fate. Lady Saren’s crimes include refusing to marry the vicious and foul Lord Khasar and making a clandestine engagement with Khan Tegus instead. Both men visit the tower, but Lady Saren refuses to speak to them, ordering Dashti to impersonate her. Dashti is mystified, but her conversations with Khan Tegus become too enticing to give up, and she ends up falling in love with her mistress’ khan. After two years, the women manage to find a way out only to discover that Lord Khasar has laid waste to Lady Saren’s city, and he is advancing on Khan Tegus’. Ever enterprising and determined despite the inexplicable passivity of her mistress, Dashti manages to get them into Khan Tegus’ house as servants and eventually, through a blend of meek obedience and fatalistic courage, finds a way to defeat Lord Khasar and attain her heart’s desire. Hale handily revises the Grimm brothers’ “Maid Maleen” to create her own compelling story of a hard-working girl who gets what she deserves. The narrative is told through Dashti’s illustrated journals, where her naïve virtue is immediately apparent and her wit, warmth, and good sense continue to charm readers as her story becomes more harrowing and suspenseful. Lord Khasar is revealed to be the stuff of nightmares, but Khan Tegus is straight out of a young girl’s dreams, so readers will be drawn to the romance as well as the adventure Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2007, Bloomsbury, 320p.; Reviewed from galleys, $17.95. Grades 6-9.

Melissa Johnson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 20, No. 4))
After swearing an oath to her mistress, Lady Saren, that she would not abandon her, Dashti finds herself locked in a tower for seven years. Lady Saren’s father wants her to marry Lord Khasar, a powerful ruler, but she wants to marry Khan Tegus, a lesser nobleman. For this, her father locks her away in the tower for her disobedience. Dashti keeps a journal of her days in the tower with Lady Saren. While there, she fights rats, meets Khan Tegus, gets a cat, fights Lord Khasar, loses a cat, and keeps them both alive. When the guards at the base of the tower no longer bring them fresh milk, Dashti begins to think they will be forgotten. While Lady Saren’s sanity is in question, Dashti, who is a mucker and has the gift of healing by song, sings to her to help relieve the ache and loneliness. On day 932, almost three years after being sent to the tower, Dashti discovers a way out. However, Lady Saren’s land has been destroyed along with her people. They both travel to the city where Khan Tegus lives to find food and while there, Dashti and Lady Saren find work, but Dashti’s singing and healing talent leads her to Khan Tegus. After being ordered by Lady Saren to impersonate her, Dashti must find the courage and strength to believe in herself and reveal the truth about Lord Khasar. Hale’s newest addition to the young adult genre is an enchanting, exciting, and unique retelling of a Grimm’s fairy tale. Using entries from a journal creates a plot that is never fully revealed until after the main character is aware of it, creating high interest reading. Several illustrations documenting life in the tower and elsewhere give Dashti a down-to-earth quality that reaches out to the reader. Fans of her other novels, Princess Academy and The Goose Girl, will no doubt find this entry just as enthralling. It is highly recommended for all libraries. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 7 and up. 2007, Bloomsbury, 305p., $17.95. Ages 12 up.

Jenny Ingram (VOYA, October 2007 (Vol. 30, No. 4))
Dashti, a fifteen-year-old peasant girl from the Central Asian steppes, documents her time in service to Lady Saren through journal entries. When Saren, sixteen, refuses her father's choice of bridegroom, her father locks both girls in an isolated tower with provisions for seven years. Dashti's earlier life in the steppes has prepared her to live with hardships, and she is able to care for Saren until the food runs out. After nearly three years in the tower, Dashti finds a way out, and the two girls discover that the kingdom is in ruins and that they have been forgotten. They journey to the next kingdom, and disguised, find work in the household of Saren's beloved, where Dashti's resourcefulness and talents blossom into initiative and leadership. The story is based loosely on Maid Maleen from the Brothers Grimm. As with her other books, Hale creates a female character who succeeds because of her intelligence, integrity and hard work, and who is eventually rewarded for it. Dashti, relying on her upbringing on the steppes, appears educated and independent, in contrast to Saren's helplessness as a member of the nobility. It is a refreshing change from the typical princess story, and a nod to democracy. Smith's illustrations enhance the story, which is well-written and fast-paced, and which will captivate readers. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2007, Bloomsbury, 320p., $17.95. Ages 11 to 15.

Kristen Moreland, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, October 2007 (Vol. 30, No. 4))
Readers will be swept away into the brilliant world of this fast-paced fairy tale. Hale's colorful language and descriptive storytelling bring the story of friendship, love, and discovery to life. As in many fairy tales, the ending and many events are predictable, but it is an enjoyable read nonetheless. Fans of Ella Enchanted (HarperCollins, 1997/VOYA August 1997) and Hale's previous works will welcome this book with enthusiasm. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P M J (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2007, Bloomsbury, 320p., $17.95. Ages 11 to 15.