Which would you choose: one perfect moment of happiness, where your deepest desire is granted… or your true self? Tilda is a hardworking young girl living in a faraway kingdom with her father. But she isn't exactly what most people would call beautiful – until her father gives her a glittering emerald ring after her sixteenth birthday. Suddenly, the boys who once ignored her now wait beneath her window just to catch a glimpse of her angelic beauty. She becomes every boy's first choice for the Friday night dance. But then her father reveals the truth: it is the ring that makes her appear extraordinarily beautiful to others, though she still looks the same to herself. But the gift carries a curse that she cannot outrun. Now she finally has the chance to win the attention of Edwin, her longtime crush, who also seems captivated when he sees her. But is it worth sacrificing herself? The Ring of Beauty is a folktale that teaches readers a powerful lesson: what is on the outside does not matter most. Inside, readers will discover: That there are consequences to our actions - That beauty does not determine our worth - That our power lies in choice, and our choices can change the course of our lives - The importance of self-acceptance and loving ourselves just as we are This story reminds us that the greatest change often happens when we choose ourselves – even when the world is offering us something dazzlingly irresistible in return. "What truly matters isn't the outside, but what's inside." Sometimes life doesn't make it easy to accept these simple words. In Kateryna Dronova's The Ring of Beauty, both Tilda and her father, Tobin, have important lessons to learn. The two have been cursed, all because Tobin made a thoughtless choice so many years ago. Now he must give his sixteen-year-old daughter a magical ring that will make her appear beautiful to everyone outside the home. You see, she really wasn't beautiful, at least, not visually. But she was hardworking and kind. Now, she has to make an important decision: whether to accept the ring and appear beautiful, especially to Edwin, the person she truly loves, or to accept her fate of being the way she's always been. What will she choose? And what will be the consequences of her choice? Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite