Princess Academy By Shannon Hale Release Date: Buy it Today! Bloomsbury Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon Purchase at Powell’s Find independent bookstores

Miri has always felt unwanted, the only girl in her mountain village that doesn’t work in the quarries. Her world suddenly grows when the king’s priests determine that the prince’s bride shall come from her mountain, and all the girls in the village are required to attend a Princess Academy.

Life at the academy is hard. Mountain girls are made to feel stupid by their teacher, uneducated in the workings of the kingdom. Miri learns to read and write, as well as teach others, as she grows into her self-confidence thanks to the Academy. Eventually she will learn enough to transform her life and the lives of those around her.

Like in all of Hale’s books, there is an amazingly creative magic, a sort of “stone-speaking” that the quarry workers have learned to use to talk to each other over the noise of stone working. Miri, however, dissects how the speaking works so that she can use it outside of the quarry, a talent that will of course come in very handy. Hale has mentioned that she imagines this takes place on the same world as the Goose Girl books, but in a different time and continent, and that makes sense. All of her books have such amazing and unique magics, setting Hale outside the norm of blasting magic spells and words that make people fly.

Growing up and finding your inner strengths is also central to this book, as Miri struggles with feeling useless to those around her. Like most girls in their early teens, she can’t see what makes her special, only what she lacks in relation to the rest of her village. She is a wonderfully nuanced character that the reader will feel an immediate connection and empathy with, as I think it’s often easier to see your own faults than your strengths. I know that it doesn’t matter how good I might be at writing or web design, I’ll often focus on my lack of organization and the fact I can’t run a mile without wanting to die.

Hale also did a wonderful job of creating the world that Miri lives in, from the detailed life in the quarry to the social feelings of the rest of the country versus those who live in the mountains. All of these details come together in Hale’s writing and reflect back on the characters’ actions and the final solutions that Miri devises.

Ratings Reasons:
Action 4 – A few battles that are all well done, and I loved the ending fight. There’s plenty of action for the adventurer in you.

Romance 4 ½ – The two main couples are pretty cute and completely believable. I enjoyed watching and rooting for them to get together.

Characters 5 – Everyone was believable and flowed nicely together as a real community was developed in Hale’s writing.

Overall 4 ½ – All fans of Hale’s other books will enjoy this one, and it’s not hard to see why it’s won so many awards.

Extras:
Shannon Hale has wrote a number of excellent books, mostly fairytale inspired. Personally, I think Book of a Thousand Days is her best, but all the books are worth reading.

A few months back I had the great joy of hearing Shannon Hale and Libba Bray speak at a local bookstore. Here is the audio of their talk, which covers most of the books they’ve written, including Hale’s Princess Academy.

The whole time I was reading this, I couldn’t help but think of Petite Princess Yucie, which is kind of the anime magical girl version of this book. I haven’t finished it yet, but I love the 10 episodes or so that I have seen so far. It’s about a young girl who’s always been an outcast (she looks 10 even though she is 18), who ends up going to the Princess Academy in hopes of becoming the next Platinum Princess. It’s an adorable adventure of friendship and learning about yourself, and I really want to finish it someday.

And don’t miss the live chat with Shannon Hale over at readergirlz!  May 22nd, 6pm PST.

Parents: 10 + This is a great wholesome book that the whole family can enjoy. Parents can read it with their kids and still feel like they got something out of it. I highly recommend it as a read-together book.

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