The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [10]
The out player leaves the game and the remaining players advance toward square number one. The new player enters the game at square number four. Players are not required to stay within their square (as long as they do not interfere with other players or step in another player’s square) unless they are serving, in which case they must have at least one foot in their square.
Any of the following constitutes a foul:
♦ Hitting the ball with any part of the body except the hands.
♦ Hitting the ball with only one hand, with fingers pointing up, or with a fist.
♦ Hitting the ball more than once. before it goes to another square.
♦ Hitting a line.
♦ Not hitting a ball that bounces in your square.
♦ Holding/catching/stopping the ball.
♦ Serving without having at least one foot in your square.
♦ Stepping into another player’s square.
A variation of the game is “King’s Corner.” In this case instead of numbered squares, the squares are “King,” “Queen,” “Prince,” and “Princess,” and the goal is to get to be King.
SPECIAL RULES
If the players agree beforehand, the game can be played with “server’s rules,” which means the player who serves can call special rules at the start of each round. Some of these include:
7-Up
Every player who hits the ball must shout out a number, starting with one, until the number seven is reached. The number 7, or any number ending in a 7, must be skipped, and if it isn’t, the player who doesn’t skip it is out.
Around the World
Anyone who has the ball may call “Around the World” at any time during the game. Once it’s called, the ball must be hit from square to square in numerical order until it reaches the player who originally started it. After that, the game play returns to normal.
Backboards (also called Treetops)
Hit the ball upward into the air (instead of bouncing it once on the ground) before hitting it into another player’s square.
Do Overs
A penalty-free chance to redo a play without a player becoming “out.”
Friendsies
When “Friendsies” is called, players can stay in the game even if they commit a foul.
Princesses Today
WHEN MOST OF US think of princesses, we conjure up fairy tales and Disney movies, lovely Cinderella or Belle in their pale blue taffeta and yellow silk ball gowns—or the ultra-pink princess merchandise pushed on girls today.
Perhaps it’s a surprise to find beneath the glitter that these are real people who are princesses, and who lead very different lives than we see in the sugary movies—princesses who are comfortable wearing sensible wool suits and athletic clothes more often than fancy dresses and sparkly jewels.
Thirty-nine nations in the world still have monarchies—constitutional monarchies, which means the royal family is important, but that the real political power is in the elected parliament and the Prime Minister. Many of these monarchies include princesses, of all ages—some born into their royal family, like princesses Kako and Aiko of Japan, and some married in, like commoner Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.
However they became princesses, these real girls and women are as different from one another as any girls can be. Many do live with great wealth and privilege, true, but their lives can be quite conventional. They go to school, start businesses (like Princess Naa Asie Ocansey of Ghana, who has had a TV home-shopping show), and do charity work. Some are happy with their lives, and others struggle with their royal role, as did the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the late Princess Leila of Iran.
Real princesses have various personalities, talents, and hobbies. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand writes poetry and short stories, plays Thai classical instruments, and also jogs, swims, bikes, and treks.
A closer look at just six modern-day princesses gives you an idea of the many ways to live a real life of royalty