Soujon's Journey by Marlee Morgan

Set in the mystical village of Sky Mountain and the city of Cyane, SOUJON'S JOURNEY is the tale of a young girl growing up and discovering life. Finding her gifts and the inner strength that allows her to stand up to adversity and overcome obstacles in her life.
In the mystical city there are four basic laws--(1) if harm it does none, do as you will, (2) be kind in spirit, (3) be in harmony with your surroundings, (4) be clean in body, mind and spirit.
Soujon embraces the new world around her and finds joy in life beyond her wildest dreams. This is a magical growing up, coming of age tale that will grab the reader from the very beginning.

     
 At first, I was wary, but then I realized exactly what I was reading. I was looking at it from entirely the wrong perspective. It’s listed as a fantasy/fairy tale so I read it from a fantasy angle. Then I noticed something different. How do I explain it? Around page 70 or so, I came to the realization that while this was a fairy tale, it is a specific kind. Here is how I noticed it:

Occasionally I would run across a passage that seemed out of place (at first.) The passages in question would shift almost to first person, without marking so. Then tell you in an almost narrative style about something in the particular characters past. I couldn't figure it out! At first I thought it might be a simple error, but around the third time it happened I realized this was no editorial error. These passages were clearly put there on purpose and for a specific reason. We were driving down the road and I was discussing the book with my mom (she’s a very good listener) when somehow the topic drifted to Disneyland and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Then, it struck me. The book was written in a classic fairy tale fashion, just without old English words such as thy (etc..) In other words: A classic with out muddled meanings. Classic lovers, enjoy. Once I had pinned the style down, I enjoyed reading it!  I did feel as though the synopsis didn't do it justice. I couldn't find a better way to word it though.