Independent Press Award
2025 Distinguished Favorite
J.C. Prins
The Secret Princess: A Tale of Hope
Delve into The Secret Princess, an award-winning Catholic fantasy novel about blossoming in a time of trial through the power of stories. Infused with devotion to the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this captivating tale from J.C. Prins is masterfully written and beautifully illustrated to fill young hearts and imaginations with goodness, truth, and faith.
Each woman of the Kingdom owns a locket that reflects her heart and spirit. The day ten-year-old Miriam learns that Papa died in the war defending their homeland, she watches in horror as Mama’s locket falls to the ground and shatters. Worse still, the bird that lives inside flies away and, in her heartbreak, Mama stops singing. Miriam’s own locket doesn’t break, but between Papa’s palpable absence, her worries for Mama, and Granny’s incessant snipping, it stops growing. The rosebud inside withers, and Miriam fears it will never bloom but die like Granny’s without a bird. Then a mysterious woman named Leena moves into a nearby cottage. A friend to Mama, Leena nourishes Miriam’s rosebud back to life with food and tales of goodness and beauty until Miriam finds what she most lacks—hope.