Status Updates From Princess Academy

When my son was 5, any time we had to stop reading at a cliffhanger, he would wail, "I'm in dispense!"

This has since become a family catchphrase.

Well... This read-aloud has officially crossed over into unputdownable territory. No matter where we break for bedtime, it feels like the cruelest of cliffhangers.

The dispense is killing them.

And I, the bedtime enforcer, have become the worst villain of them all.

This book has been highly recommended, so I've been wanting to try it out as a readaloud.

My 9-year-old son was riveted from the start, but my 11-year-old daughter was not at all on board at first. Halfway into the story, though, she leaped out of her seat and cheered over an unexpected turn of events.

Both kids are now begging for extra chapters at bedtime.