MY LADY JANE, by Cynthia Hand et al

The story: King Edward is dying, and he names Lady Jane Grey as his successor, doing an end run around his sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Only problem for Jane--aside from the fact that she doesn't actually WANT to be queen--is that she's going to have to marry Gifford Dudley in order to do it. Gifford is charming, handsome, funny, and writes poetry all night long: HIS only problem is that during the day, he's a horse. Which is definitely a problem if you're also a husband.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content PG; Nudity PG; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (innuendo, political scheming) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: I thought this one was charming! Take a kind of dismal part of pre-Elizabethan English history and add a big dollop of fantasy (just about every main character is an "Ethian", which means they manifest as an animal alter ego), stir them together, and emerge with a really fun, slightly naughty romantic adventure that every girl who loves fantasy and romance will cheer for. It's pretty thick and there's quite a bit of actual history (except that in real life, Lady Jane Grey was executed after nine days as queen)--so it's better for the older crowd, probably 8th and up.