Princess Academy

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Not to be confused with the movie The Princess Academy (1987).
Princess Academy
Author Shannon Hale
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Bloomsbury Press
Publication date June 16, 2005
Media type Print (Hardback&paperback)
Pages 314
ISBN ISBN 1582349932
OCLC 57366112
Preceded by none
Followed by none


Princess Academy is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale. The book was named a 2006 Newbery Honor winner.

Contents

[edit] Summary

High on the slopes of Mount Eskel, Miri's family has lived forever, pounding a meager living from the stone of the mountain itself. Miri dreams of working alongside the others in the quarry, but she has never been allowed to work there--perhaps, she thinks, because she is too small.

Then word comes from the lowlands: the king's priests have divined that the prince's bride-to-be--the next princess--will come from Mount Eskel. The prince himself will travel to the village to choose his bride, but first all eligible girls must attend a makeshift academy to prepare for royal lowlander life.

At the school, Miri finds herself confronting both bitter competition among the girls and her own conflicted desires to be chosen. Yet when danger comes to the academy, it is Miri, named for a tiny mountain flower, who must find a way to save her classmates--and the chance for the future that each of them is eager to secure as her own.

"Miri is a fourteen-year-old from Mt. Eskel who has never been allowed to work with the rest of the villagers (young and old, men and women) in the quarry that keeps the community alive. Because of this, she feels like an outcast in the community and feels cut off from the culture that is largely formed by their working life in the quarry. Despite this, she is very close to her father and her sister. She is also best friends with a boy in the village, Peder.

One day, a messenger from the king arrives along with the traders from the lowlands. The messenger announces that the nation's priests have informed the nation that the next princess will come from Mt. Eskell, despite the lack of education provided the villagers and despite the prejudice that exists between the mountain villagers and the lowlanders. To this end, a princess academy is going to be set up near the village to train the young girls the ways of the lowland noblemen and noblewomen. At the end of the year, the prince will visit the academy and choose the girl to be the next princess. Miri, of course, attends the academy, and though the academy is difficult because of the strict teacher Ms. Olana, Miri excels at learning and commerce, her knowledge even helping the village to prosper in trading with the lowlanders. The situation also causes developments in her relationships with the other village girls, particularly Britt who is an outsider also. She must also learn a new appreciation of her culture in order to succeed.

Eventually, bandits appear and as the prince arrives, forcing Miri to contemplate the complex feelings she has about her culture and about Peder.




[edit] Awards and nominations

  • 2005 Honorable Mention for "Favorite Novel of the Year," Publishers Weekly's Cuffie Awards
  • 2006 Newbery Honor Book
  • 2006 Utah Children's Book Award
  • 2007 Beehive Award winner
  • An ALA Notable Children's Book
  • A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • A Book for the Teen Age by The New York Public Library
  • A Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year, starred entry
  • Nominated for the 2008 Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award
  • Nominated for the 2008 Colorado Children's Book Award
  • Nominated for the 2008 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award
  • Nominated for the 2008 Young Reader's Choice Award, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Library Association
  • Nominated for the Illinois 2008 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award

[edit] Publication history

  • 2005, USA, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books ISBN 1582349932, Pub date 16 June 2005, Hardback

[edit] External links