The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation by Shannon Hale
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the authors’ imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2016 by Shannon and Dean Hale
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by LeUyen Pham
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted,
or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and
recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2017
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2016947248
ISBN 978-0-7636-6512-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7636-9451-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7636-9708-2 (electronic)
This book was typeset in LTC Kennerley Pro.
The illustrations were done in watercolor and ink.
Candlewick Press
99 Dover Street
Somerville, Massachusetts 02144
visit us at www.candlewick.com
For Gus, Bronson, Linus, George, and Frankie—
superheroes all
S. H. and D. H.
To Ninja Princesses Isla and Nova
L. P.
It was dawn. The Princess in Black
had battled monsters all night. And so
Princess Magnolia was tired.
Princess Magnolia lay down in her
fluffy princess bed. She closed her
eyes. She was almost asleep when . . .
2
“The monster alarm,” she muttered.
“Not again.”
3
She stumbled into the broom closet.
She slipped off her frilly pajamas. She
fell into her black costume. Now she
was the Princess in Black.
A very sleepy Princess in Black.
4
She went down the secret chute.
Onto the back of her pony, Blacky.
5
And into the goat pasture. Just
as she had fourteen other times that
week.
“ROAR!” said a toothy monster.
6
“Did you say ‘snore’?” asked the
Princess in Black.
The toothy monster shook its
head. “NO. ROAR.”
The Princess in Black wished it
had said “snore.” She wished she
were snoring right then.
7
“EAT GOATS!” said the monster.
“They’re not your goats,” the Prin-
cess in Black mumbled. “They’re Duff’s
goats. Go back to Monster Land.”
The toothy monster did not want to
go back to Monster Land. The toothy
monster was quite set on eating goats.
So the toothy monster and the
Princess in Black waged battle.
10
The monster picked up the Princess
in Black in its fist. It opened its toothy
mouth. It roared again.
11
The Princess in Black opened
her mouth. She didn’t roar back.
She yawned.
Just then, someone pulled the
monster’s tail.
A boy in a mask and cape pulled the
monster’s tail. A boy the Princess in
Black had never seen before.
“Who are you?” asked the Princess
in Black. “And where is Duff the goat
boy?”
14
“I am the Goat Avenger!” said the
Goat Avenger. “And Duff the goat
boy is busy. Somewhere else. Not
here.”
15
The Goat Avenger was the same
height as her friend Duff. He even
had the same smile. But it couldn’t
be Duff. Duff did not wear a mask.
16
“That’s funny,” said the Princess
in Black. “Duff the goat boy is always
here. This is his goat pasture. These
are his goats.”
“EAT GOATS!” said the monster.
The monster was still holding the
Princess in Black. The monster still
had a lot of teeth.
“YOU MAY NOT EAT THE
GOATS!” said the Princess in Black
and the Goat Avenger.
The monster winced. There were
too many people with masks. It was
all very confusing.
17
The monster put down the Prin-
cess in Black. It stuffed itself back
into the hole. In Monster Land, no
one wore masks.
That was the fifteenth monster this
week,” said the Princess in Black.
She yawned again. She curled up
on the grass. Blacky snuggled up
beside her.
“You look tired,” said the Goat
Avenger.
19
The Princess in Black closed her
eyes. A goat licked her ear. She rolled
over. Another goat nibbled her hair.
20
“You need a vacation,” said the Goat
Avenger.
The Princess in Black opened one eye.
“What’s a vacation?” she asked.
“You take a break from work,” he said.
“You go somewhere nice. You rest.”
“That sounds amazing. But I can’t
take a vacation. Who will protect the
goats?”
21
The Goat Avenger put his fist on
his hip.
“Never fear,” he said. “The Goat
Avenger is here!”
A vacation,” said the Princess in
Black. She led Blacky back to the
castle.
23
“A vacation,” said the Princess in
Black. She crawled back up the secret
chute.
“A vacation?” asked the Princess
in Black. She shrugged into her frilly
dress. She was no longer the Princess
in Black.
24
“A vacation!” said Princess
Magnolia.
25
The Goat Avenger would stay in
the pasture. He would watch out
for monsters and save the goats.
Princess Magnolia packed. The
best time to start a vacation was
right now.
Princess Magnolia rode her bicycle
to the seaside. After all, her pony
deserved a vacation too.
The air was salty. The sun was
shiny. The sea was as blue as monster
fur. It was a perfect day.
Princess Magnolia lay down in a
hammock. She closed her eyes. She
was just about to snore when some-
one said, “Hello, Princess Magnolia.”
Princess Magnolia opened her eyes.
Next to her was a pile of snacks. Beside
the snacks was another hammock. On
that hammock was a book. Behind the
book was Princess Sneezewort.
30
“What a surprise!” said Princess
Magnolia in her cheeriest sleepy voice.
“You sound tired,” said Princess
I’ll make sure no one wakes you.”
“Thank you, Princess Sneezewort,”
said Princess Magnolia.
“Of course,” she said. “That’s what
friends are for.”
Princess Magnolia closed her eyes
again.
“Later,” Princess Sneezewort whis-
pered, “we can play checkers.”
31
Princess Magnolia was just about
to snore again when she heard a noise.
“ROAR!”
Princess Magnolia kept her eyes shut.
A monster? On the perfect beach?
Impossible.
32
Princess Magnolia squeezed her
eyes shutter. Maybe she was already
asleep. Maybe she was dreaming.
“ROAAARRRR!”
Princess Magnolia peeked with
one eye.
A huge head rose out of the water.
The head was on a long neck. The
neck was attached to a massive body.
A sea monster was terrorizing her
perfect beach.
“Sorry!” said Princess Sneeze-
wort. “I didn’t know how to make
sure a sea monster didn’t wake you.”
34
And Princess Magnolia didn’t
know how to make sure a sea monster
didn’t hurt Princess Sneezewort.
35
Princess Magnolia wore glass flip-
flops. Princess Magnolia sunburned
easily. Second-story windows made
Princess Magnolia feel woozy.
Princess Magnolia could not fight
a sea monster.
The Goat Avenger stood tall in the
goat pasture. Fists on hips. Chin
raised. Smile sparkling. He waited
for monsters to come.
The goats chewed some grass.
37
The Goat Avenger chopped at the
air. He rolled on the grass. He said,
“YAAA!”
The goats swallowed. Then they
chewed some more grass.
The Goat Avenger tried out some
catchphrases.
One of the goats burped.
41
The Goat Avenger went over to
the hole. Monster Land was down
there. All week long monsters had
been climbing out of that hole. The
Goat Avenger had created his own
monster alarm using ropes and bells.
But nothing moved.
“Hello?” the Goat Avenger whis-
pered. “Monsters?”
The goats chewed more grass.
Maybe if I just lie here the monster will
go away, thought Princess Magnolia.
“ROOOAAARRR!” said the sea
monster. “EAT PEOPLE!”
The people on the beach screamed.
“People are screaming,” said Princess
Sneezewort.
44
People ran.
“People are running,” said Princess
Sneezewort. “Should we run too?”
People dropped ice pops in the
sand.
“That boy dropped his ice pop in
the sand,” said Princess Sneezewort.
45
“EAT PEOPLE!” roared the sea
monster. “PEOPLE YUM!”
Princess Magnolia sighed.
“You’re right, Princess Sneezewort,”
she said. “We should run.”
Some say that princesses don’t run.
But these two did. They ran very fast.
Princess Sneezewort ran toward
an ice-pop stand. Princess Magnolia
ran toward a bathing tent. She needed
her disguise, and fast.
49
Nobody knew that prim and perfect
Princess Magnolia was secretly the
Princess in Black. But she had to keep
the sea monster from eating people,
especially Princess Sneezewort. After
all, that’s what friends are for.
Duff the goat boy sat and watched
the goats chew. His mask had itched.
His cape had chafed. So he’d taken
them off.
He wished he’d brought a book.
52
Clang-clang-clang.
“The monster alarm!” said Duff.
Duff shoved on his mask. He tied
on his cape. He was no longer Duff
the goat boy.
The Goat Avenger put his fists on
his hips and said, “Ha-ha!”
53
Nothing came out of the hole.
The rope on the monster alarm
was wiggling. The goat bells were
clanging. But there was no monster
in sight.
The Princess in Black stood on the
beach. She said, “Sea monster, you
may not eat people.”
“ROARRR!” said the sea monster.
Its tail slapped the water. A wave
crashed to shore.
56
Maybe it can’t hear me, she thought.
The Princess in Black climbed onto
a rock. She cupped her hands around
her mouth.
She said, “Behave, beast!”
57
“ROAARRRR!” said the sea
monster. Its tail whipped the beach.
It barely missed the ice-pop stand.
58
Maybe it still can’t hear me, she
thought.
She leaped onto its tail. She
started to run up. Suddenly the
tail lifted into the air.
The Princess in Black slipped.
Then she slipped some more. She
grabbed the tail and hugged it
tight.
Don’t look down, she told herself.
She looked down. She gasped.
The bathing tents looked like
pebbles. The people looked like
ants.
60
A bird landed on her shoulder.
“Squawk?” said the Princess in
Black. That meant “Could you fly
me down?”
61
“Squawk, squawk,” said the bird.
That meant “So sorry, but you’re
too heavy.”
“Squawk . . .” said the Princess
in Black. That meant “This was
supposed to be a vacation. . . .”
The Goat Avenger squinted into
the hole. Not so much as a tentacle
appeared.
Then what was setting off the
monster alarm?
63
A mystery! The Goat Avenger
straightened his mask. He tightened
his cape (a little too tight). He loos-
ened his cape. Then he followed the
rope back to a tree.
64
A furry creature was caught in the
rope. It was flailing! It was squeaking!
It was . . . a squirrel.
“At last! A monster!” said the Goat
Avenger.
A nearby goat bleated doubtfully.
66
“A squirrel could be a monster,”
the Goat Avenger explained to the
doubtful goat. “If you’re an acorn.”
The Goat Avenger freed the
squirrel.
He said, “Don’t eat any goats.”
67
The squirrel squeaked. It ran
away. Off to find acorns to terrorize.
The goats said, “Maaaa.” That
probably meant that they wer
proud of the Goat Avenger.
But the Goat Avenger shrugged.
He’d had his heart set on a real
monster. A scary monster.
The sea monster’s tail was long,
narrow, and slick. It reminded the
Princess in Black of her secret chute.
That gave her an idea.
SWOOP!
69
If she hadn’t been so tired, the
sliding would have been a lot of fun.
The sea monster’s back was soft
and springy, like her mattress. She
had to jump to get across it.
72
If she hadn’t been so tired, the
jumping would have been a lot of
fun.
The sea monster’s neck was high as
a tower. She had to climb to get up.
Actually, even though she was
tired, the climbing was a lot of fun.
She wondered about getting a sea
monster for a pet. But it would never
fit in her moat.
At last she reached its head. The
sea monster tried to bat her off. So
the Princess in Black and the sea
monster waged battle.
76
She skimmed down to the tip of its
nose. She looked it square in the eyes.
“EAT PEOPLE!” said the sea
monster.
“No!” said the Princess in Black.