The Princess had spies? I was impressed. I wanted spies.

The Curse of the Good Girl erodes girls' ability to know, say, and manage a complete range of feelings. It urges girls to be perfect, giving them a troubled relationship to integrity and failure. It expects girls to be selfless, limiting the expression of their needs. It demands modesty, depriving girls of permission to commit to their strengths and goals. It diminishes assertive body language, quieting voices and weakening handshakes. It reaches across all areas of girls' lives: in their interactions with boys and other girls, at school, at home and in extracurricular life. The Curse of the Good Girl cuts to the core of authentic selfhood, demanding that girls curb the strongest feelings and desires that form the patchwork of a person.

"Just bear that in mind, Percy. Even the bravest can fall."

Arven had never understood why birds insisted on chattering at each other from the moment the night sky began to lighten. Surely dawn was early enough!
He turned to point out the perversity of birds to the prince,(..)