LS5603 Ella's Big Chance

Hughes, Shirley. Ella’s Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004.

ISBN 0689873999

Ella Cinders and her widowed father are dressmakers during the Jazz Age. They work together with a “lively lad” named Buttons in their shop. Mr. Cinders meets and marries Madame Renée who has two daughters of her own, Ruby and Pearl. After their marriage, Madame Renée “manages” the store and her daughters act as models for the dresses Ella and her father create. The shop is soon a big success and the household is invited to a ball to celebrate the homecoming of the Duke of Arc from his travels abroad. Not long after, everyone except Ella and Buttons are on their way to the ball. As Ella and Buttons prepare to enjoy each other’s company for the evening by sharing a meal, when Ella’s Fairy Godmother shows up, whisks Ella away to the ball, and leaves a lonely Buttons to mind the shop. Ella intrigues the Duke, who dances the night away with her; they have so much fun, Ella loses track of time and races out of the ball and leaves a glass shoe behind. The Duke takes the shoe clue and tries to find Ella. The Duke eventually finds Ella but Ella decides to stay true to the one that has stayed true to her: Buttons.

Ella’s Big Chance is a different take on the Cinderella Story. On one hand, it has all the classic elements of the story: the “evil” stepmother and stepsisters, the Fairy Godmother, glass slippers, and the midnight time clock. I think it has a feminist view in that Ella chooses who she wants end up with: My favorite thing from this book is Ella decides to stay faithful to Buttons and not be dazzled by the thought that she could become the Lady of Arc. The drawings, exquisitely drawn by the author, garnered a Kate Greenaway Medal for Children’s Illustration in Britain. Ella’s flapper ball dress almost sparkles on the page!

The November 15, 2004 Publishers Weekly says of Ella’s Big Chance, “Most of the tale stays true to the original, but a twist at the end may well leave readers admiring the sprightly heroine in Hughes's version.” Encouraging children to make up their own version of the Cinderella story would be a great exercise to go along with this reading. Children who enjoyed this book may also enjoy, among the many, many variants of the Cinderella story, Rexerella by Keith Faulkner, Joe Cinders by Marianne Mitchell, Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci, and Bigfoot Cinderrrrela by Tony Johnston.