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Summary
Summary
Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village.
The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Soon Miri finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires.
Author Notes
Shannon Hale was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 26, 1974. She received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah and a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Montana. Her first book, The Goose Girl, was published in 2003. She writes for both adults and young adults. Her adult books include Austenland, Midnight in Austenland, and The Actor and the Housewife. Her young adult books include Book of a Thousand Days, Princess Academy, Palace of Stone, and the Ever after High series. She co-wrote the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack with husband Dean Hale.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-9-The thought of being a princess never occurred to the girls living on Mount Eskel. Most plan to work in the quarry like the generations before them. 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. First, strict Tutor Olana denies a visit home. Then, they are cut off from their village by heavy winter snowstorms. 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.-Linda L. Plevak, Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Readers enchanted by Hale's Goose Girl are in for an experience that's a bit more earthbound in this latest fantasy-cum-tribute to girl-power. Cheerful and witty 14-year-old Miri loves her life on Mount Eskel, home to the quarries filled with the most precious linder stone in the land, though she longs to be big and strong enough to do quarry work like her sister and father. But Miri experiences big changes when the king announces that the prince will choose a potential wife from among the village's eligible girls-and that said girls must attend a new Princess Academy in preparation. Princess training is not all it's cracked up to be for spunky Miri in the isolated school overseen by cruel Tutor Olana. But through education-and the realization that she has the common mountain power to communicate wordlessly via magical "quarry-speech"-Miri and the girls eventually gain confidence and knowledge that helps transform their village. Unfortunately, Hale's lighthearted premise and underlying romantic plot bog down in overlong passages about commerce and class, a surprise hostage situation and the specifics of "quarry-speech." The prince's final princess selection hastily and patly wraps things up. Ages 9-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Excerpts
Excerpts
Life on Mount Eskel is hard, but for 14-year-old Miri the mountain is home. Then a messenger from the king stuns the village by announcing that priests have divined that the prince's bride-to-be must come from Mount Eskel. All too quickly Miri and the other girls of her village are bundled off to receive special training in how to be a princess--though, of course, only one of them can be chosen.Under Tutor Olana, the girls' training is vigorous, frequently harsh. And the competition among them is sometimes bitter. But just as the quarry workers of Mount Eskel labor to dig valuable linder from the mountain, Miri learns to dig deep inside herself, where she discovers amazing resources she never dreamed of.School Library Journal's starred review cheered Princess Academy as an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home. Now the Full Cast Family brings it to life on audio, complete with charming performances of the songs embedded in Shannon Hale's award-winning text. Excerpted from Princess Academy by Shannon Hale All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.