Wednesday, November 19, 2014

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!

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