Eva Ibbotson has always been one of my favorite authors.  In one of the last books prior to her death, Ibbotson has again created a fun fantasy for grades fourth through seventh.  A group of misfits: an old hag, a troll, a wizard, and an orphaned boy, are on a mission to save a princess from an ogre.  But when they arrive at the ogre’s castle, they find things are not what they seemed.  The princess is harrassing the ogre, the ogre is suffering from a nervous breakdown, and the group must figure out how to restore sanity.  A bit predictable, but the lightheartedness wins out.  Ibbotson has a clever way of describing things which makes for an interesting read.