If I Have A Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

Lucy Norton not only has a new stepmother to contend with, but her father has uprooted her cozy West Coast existence and taken her across the continent to Long Island. Dad commutes to his job in San Francisco, leaving Lucy with the wicked stepmother and the two evil little stepsisters. Lucy's new high school seems like a hostile environment until the most popular boy in school smiles at her, sending her stock flying through the roof. At home, Lucy suffers the indignity of living in the basement with no furniture while everyone else lives in relative luxury. She is, of course, made to do chores while the stepsisters get away with murder. Her stepmother and stepsisters are shallow, materialistic, spoiled and even dishonest. But things work out for Lucy in the end. Everyone finally appreciates her, plus she finds her true prince—and he is not the captain of the basketball team. The Cinderella theme here is beaten to a cliché-ridden pulp. Unoriginal and vapid. (Fiction. 12-14)