Royal Diaries: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769

This fictionalized diary of Marie Antoinette begins the first day of 1769 in Vienna, Austria, when the Archduchess would been just 13 years old, and spans two years as "Tonia" is prepared for life in the court of Versailles. The stage has been set for her marriage to the Crown Prince of France, Louis XVI, a strategic union like others engineered by the ambitious Empress Maria Theresa. The impetuous teenager sees only a nosy Mama and unhappy alliances made for her siblings. The tone is conversational, even slangy, for a girl who lived more than 300 years ago -- some concessions are made for modern readers, but not enough to doubt the historical accuracy of the major events.

Tonia discusses her relationships with her crafty mother, her beloved niece, her tutor, her nursemaid and her many brothers and sisters. She describes her leisure pursuits and the tedium of French fashion and etiquette -- ridiculously complicated hairstyles, false beauty marks, incredibly elaborate dresses, special ways of walking, learning to gamble and the never-ending procession of servants to do tasks as mundane as hold her underclothes!

Marie's reflections on politics are few but poignant -- above all, she recognizes the pomposity of it all. After the outrageously overcomplicated marriage and envoy to Versailles, Marie learns that French queens bathe, eat, stroll and even give birth in full view of the public! At first she is disgusted by her new husband, but she eventually wins him over with her high spirits and consistent effort. The machinations of Court members against each other are fun to read about, especially Marie's battle against the King's acknowledged mistress, the low-born du Barry. These teenage reflections show little of the woman who would become reviled for her extravagance and ignorance of the plight of France's peasantry -- here, she is a young and spirited girl whom readers will want to succeed against convention, though history bears out that she cannot. Historical notes and pictorial details of the post-diary Marie Antoinette provide excellent perspective and a necessary return to reality. Ages 9-13.

Maria Antonia of Vienna has her whole life mapped out ahead of her. She is to marry Dauphin Louis Auguste, eldest grandson of King Louis XV. As his wife, she will be called Marie Antoinette, and will be the highest princess of France. Upon the death of the King, she will become Queen Marie Antoinette. But she dreads both new roles. I am just thirteen...I am not yet ready to be a dauphine, let alone Queen, she writes.

It may surprise some to discover that Kathryn Lasky, the Newbery Honor author of more than 30 fiction and nonfiction books for children and adults, was designated a reluctant reader as a child growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana. The truth was that I didn’t really like the kind of books they had you reading at school - the ’See Dick, See Jane’ books. So I made a voluntary withdrawal from reading in school, Lasky explains. But I loved the books my mom was reading to me - books like Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I loved to make up stories in my head. I was a compulsive story maker, she continues. I say story maker because I never told anyone or showed anyone my stories. Lasky first realized she could be a writer when she was about 10 years old, and her family was driving at night in their car with the top down. The sky looked so interesting you couldn’t see the stars because of these woolly clouds. And I said it looked like a sheepback sky. My mom turned around and said, ’Kathryn, you should be a writer.’ When my mom said that, I thought, ’Wow, maybe I will be.’