(Fratri Gracci Publishing) $17.87
City Council Member Nick Licata has a new agenda: promoting his recently self-published children's book, Princess Bianca and the Vandals, a fast-paced, girl-powered modern fairy tale.
In the book--which started out as oral stories Licata told to his daughter (recorded on audiocassette and sent to her in China)--Princess Bianca goes on an adventure to save her family and her home. Her father, the new king of the environmentally minded Kingdom of Tiara, has been put under a spell by an evil wizard, and the evil wizard has taken control of the kingdom. On her journey to save the day, Bianca deals with the vandals, a littering, rogue band of bikers who threaten to ruin the Kingdom of Tiara almost as much as the wizard threatens to spoil the region by ditching its enviro-values for modernization. It would make a great bedtime read-aloud.
But the book's also fun for adults on an entirely different level, when you keep in mind Licata's day job--veteran city council member who stands up for progressive causes. Set against the backdrop of Seattle politics, the book takes on new meaning: Is the evil wizard actually a front for billionaire Paul Allen, trying to put a spell on Seattle's mayor so he can have his way with South Lake Union? Or is Mayor Nickels the evil wizard? (Nickels has certainly become known for his often-pushy relationship with the city council as he advances his own agenda.) Would that then make Licata the hero who fights to restore harmony to the Kingdom of Tiara (AKA Seattle)? It's hard to say if Licata meant for his book to be more than a children's fairy tale, but it's fun to speculate.
