Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005. 314 pages. (Fantasy)
The main character of the book, Princess Academy, is Miri. (There are many other secondary characters that wouldn’t be the same if the story didn’t have them, but Miri is the main one). The story takes place at Mount Eskel where an isolated village where mostly quarry workers and their families live. Because Miri’s mother died in the quarry while collecting linder to trade, Miri’s dad won’t let Miri work in the quarry. She doesn’t like being the only girl who is fourteen and not working in the quarry. Then, by surprise, some lowlanders came to tell all girls under age seventeen that they have to go to an academy and that a year from then a prince would come and pick a girl to marry to live with in the lowlands. Olana, the teacher at the academy, is very strict (and I mean REALLY strict, she wouldn’t tolerate practically anything the girls did and would not be merciful to anyone) but the girls still find a little hope that they might be a princess. Many bad and good events happen at the quarry and when Miri finds out a way speak a quarry language, (a way of talking to people in their minds without saying anything) some of their problems are worked out. The girls become good friends and work through troubles out together when they need to. Many things happen in this book while Miri goes through her life: she and Peder are now acting differently around each other, and Miri knows, after all of her troubles, that she is home and she really wants nothing more.
I would recommend this book for someone to read because there isn’t just one character in the story. Even a minor character has a big role and has to be there so the story can be told. When I read this book, I felt I was right there as one of the girls going through the same obstacles they were going through. When you start reading you think you can easily guess exactly what might happen, so it seems a little boring. Then when you finally get to that part in the story, it is totally different from what you suspected, but it still comes to a great ending. Everything in this book hits you by surprise, and that is why I liked this book so much.
Reviewed by: IrishDancer64
