Princess Academy

by Shannon Hale

Miri lives in the tiny town of Mount Eskel. The citizens here barely eek out a living mining and selling linder, a beautiful stone only found on their mountain. Few know how to read, and their main contact with the outside world are traders from the city, who are only interested in getting linder for as cheap as possible. When a divination states that the next princess will be from Mount Eskel, the big-city Danlanders are horrified that their future queen might be a country bumpkin, so all girls of a certain age are required to attend the Princess Academy. The Academy will teach them history, poise, manners, and diplomacy, etc., so that any girl chosen will be prepared for royal duties. Miri isn't sure if she wants to be a princess, but knows that becoming a royal would improve her family's standing. She's excited to learn, and to meet the prince, but her growing feelings for Pater, her childhood best friend, complicate her emotions. She does know, beyond a doubt, that she wants to be Academy Princess, which is reserved for the girl who gets the best marks (sort of like the Princess Academy valedictorian!)

This story is so full of twists and turns and magic and adventure and romance that I can hardly begin to describe it all here! Why, oh why, didn't I read this book sooner? From the title, you might think this is another sappy, Disney-esque princess book, but it's so far from that. Miri is funny, and strong, but full of self doubt. Her voice is real, and the writing is so beautiful. You will never forget her.

I also must mention that I listened to this as a Full Cast Audio production. Each character had a different actor doing the voice work. It was absolutely incredible, and I wish all audio books were recorded this way!

The Whispering Skull

by Jonathan Stroud

Lockwood and Co. does it again! This time they're after the Bone Glass, a magical mirror made of the bones of seven spirits, which supposedly will let whomever gazes into see to the other side. Unfortunately, anyone who has ever looked into it has promptly died. After George has a near miss with the glass, it disappears, and the Lockwood group battles the Fittes group to see who can find it first. Lucy has a secret weapon, though. The skull inside the ghost jar (from book one) has revealed itself as a Type 3, and in between insults, is giving her clues. Can they get to the Bone Glass and destroy it before those snarky Fittes agents?

I absolutely love these books! The pages almost turn themselves, and they are so much fun. This one isn't quite as good as the first, but I think that's because it reads more like a hard-boiled mystery and the first was pure horror (which I tend to prefer.) It must be noted that the ghost jar also sounds an awful lot like Bartimaeus, but I won't hold that against him! The cliffhanger ending was great. The story tied up, but if we want to find out what's in Lockwood's secret room, we'll have to read the next one. Definitely one of my favorite new series.