Princess Academy

Bibliography:
Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005. ISBN-13 9781582349930

Plot Summary:
In Danland the wife of the Prince is chosen from among a village, selected by the priests. Miri’s village of Mount Eskel was chosen and all the eligible girls, Miri included, were sent to the Princess Academy, where they would learn the manners and education required of a Princess. Miri is torn in her desire to become the Princess and see the world or to stay with her home and family and make the knowledge she is gaining useful to her village. Miri’s lessons and her investigations into “quarry speak” help her when bandits capture the Princess Academy, but it is still up to the Prince if she leaves her village and the mountains to become the Princess or if she stays with her family in her home.

Critical Analysis:
While Princess Academy could have been a cheesy book full of fairy tale fluff (not to imply that fairy tales don’t have a wonderful place in society and carry good messages), it is instead a story with well developed characters in a land that doesn’t seem as if it need be all that far far away. There is no great divide between “good” and “bad” because although you know that Miri is “good”, you are unsure about Tutor Olana’s true character for much of the book and even the bandits have varying limits on how “bad” they are.
The Princess Academy speaks to girls who are in their early teens and beginning to try and figure out their place in society as well as trying to figure out what they want in life: both professionally and romantically. The thought processes behind Miri’s revelations are shown clearly enough that girls can associate with her struggles and feel as if they have something in common with her. It was a well written, enjoyable book with good messages that exceeded my expectations.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal – “When it is announced that the prince will choose a bride from their village, 14-year-old Miri, who thinks she is being kept from working in the quarry because of her small stature, believes that this is her opportunity to prove her worth to her father. All eligible females are sent off to attend a special academy where they face many challenges and hardships as they are forced to adapt to the cultured life of a lowlander… As their isolation increases, competition builds among them. The story is much like the mountains, with plenty of suspenseful moments that peak and fall, building into the next intense event. Miri discovers much about herself, including a special talent called quarry speak, a silent way to communicate. She uses this ability in many ways, most importantly to save herself and the other girls from harm. Each girl's story is brought to a satisfying conclusion, but this is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tale, even though it has wonderful moments of humor. Instead, Hale weaves an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home.”
Booklist – “When the local girls are rounded up to compete for the hand of the kingdom's prince, Miri, the prize student in the Princess Academy, gets her chance to shine. In addition to her natural intelligence and spunk, she discovers an intuitive, and at times unspoken, language that grew out of work songs in the mines and uses linder as a medium. With this "quarry-speech" giving a boost to her courage and intelligence, Miri leads her classmates in the fight against being treated as social inferiors in the academy, at the same time educating herself in ways that will better the village. Hale nicely interweaves feminist sensibilities in this quest-for-a-prince-charming, historical-fantasy tale. Strong suspense and plot drive the action as the girls outwit would-be kidnappers and explore the boundaries of leadership, competition, and friendship.”

Connections:
For other books of girls facing the prospect of marrying someone they don’t know and in the process figuring out who they are, check out the following books:
Durst, Sarah Beth. Ice. ISBN 9781416986430
Hale, Shannon. The Goose Girl. ISBN 9781582349909
Hale, Shannon. Book of a Thousand Days. ISBN 9781599903781