Cinderellis and the Glass Hill

After Princess Sonora's story is the story of a young inventor and a lonely princess in Cinderellis and the Glass Hill. Contrary to the title, this story has little connection to the classic story of Cinderella. The only similarities I noticed were Cinderellis's name and the fact that there's something made of glass that generally is made of other materials.

The storyline follows more closely the second part of the title: The Glass Hill, which is itself its own fairy tale. It gives more depth of character to the main and supporting characters, and even to the horses.

Poor Cinderellis is lonely. His older brother don't appreciate him, barely even acknowledge him except to jeer. He works hard at farming and is a great success, but his real talent is inventing. He invents flying powder, shrink powder, sticky powder, wet powder, underground umbrellas to keep plants safe from floods, and much, much more. And eventually, he obtains three horses of his own, each more beautiful and powerful than the last. But he's still lonely.

Princess Marigold is lonely, too. The castle children are all too shy to play with her, and her father is too busy on foolish quests to spend much time with her. She despises all of his quests, especially since he never brings home anything useful. She'd still hate them anyways, though; she once vowed that if he did manage to bring her back a genie in a lamp, she would wish for her father to stay at the castle with her more often. At least she has her cat to keep her company.

Then: disaster for Marigold, opportunity for Cinderellis. The king declares a contest for his daughter's hand in marriage. Whatever knight could climb to the princess (as she sat at the top of a glass hill) and take three golden apples from her would get to marry her and immediately inherit half the kingdom.

Cinderellis goes to work improving his sticky powder, determined to win the three apples, sell them, set up his own inventor's stand in town, and marry a sweet dairymaid he met.

Marigold goes to work (in disguise) getting to know the contestants, and is horrified by what she learns: each of the knights she speaks to would make terrible kings - one even swore he would drown her cat, unaware he was speaking to the true princess. The only semi-decent man she spoke with wouldn't even be able to compete - he was a farmboy, not a knight, so he wouldn't have any armor. She came up with a plan, olive oil, to ensure none of the knights ever made it to the top.

How does this unlikely couple finally work things out? How do they vanquish loneliness once and for all? Does the cat survive? And what's with the flea big enough to fill a teacup? Find out for yourself: Cinderellis and the Glass Hill, by Gail Carson Levine.