(3) YA After seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle unintentionally helps assassinate King Louis XIV, she renounces the uprising led by her mother's Shadow Society to brew curatives for the impoverished masses in secret. Meanwhile, Josse, the king's bastard son, must flee to the sewers of Paris to protect his beloved younger sisters and decidedly not-beloved half-brother, the crown prince. An exciting debut novel packed with poison, rebellion, action, and romance.

Reviewer: Rachel Marsh

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Robert Neubecker. Humorously illustrated in bright colors and with Baroque patterns and unique perspectives, this historical-fiction story about King Louis XIV's "shrimp" stature--and how he compensated for it--will engage any child. By story's end, the witty text (printed in a font of varying sizes and colors) leaves no doubt that it's always best to be yourself. The book concludes with fourteen facts about the king.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Renée Graef. In seventeenth-century Paris, a talented girl creates a tapestry based on a painting by her father. King Louis XIV commissions a larger version for Versailles, even though females at the king's factory aren't permitted to be weavers. This story reveals the complexity of weaving, while realistic paintings capture the period and help elucidate the artistic process. An author's note and pronunciation guide are appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Translated by Catherine Temerson. Marion becomes a servant to King Louis XIV's mistress, who is delighted to discover the girl's talent for making perfume. Some of the characters' actions and some details of daily life at Versailles in 1674 are not believable, but the mystery Marion works to solve is interesting. A history of perfumes is appended.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) 4-6 Girls of Many Lands series. Coincidence enables twelve-year-old Cecile Revel to become caregiver to the dogs of King Louis XIV's sister-in-law. At the Sun King's court in Versailles, Cecile becomes a favorite of the young royals, unravels the secret of her own past, and initiates a stand against blood-letting that saves the life of the heir-apparent. Historical details are accurate, but the sensibility of Cecile's first-person narrative exudes twenty-first-century awareness.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian