Princess Academy

It's a real treat when you pick up a book that is not what you expected - it's more than you expected. When I took Newbery Honor Book Princess Academy by Shannon Hale off my bookshelf last week, I mistakenly thought it was going to be another one of those Cinderella spin-offs. Not even close!

Miri lives in the high-mountain village of Mount Eskel among a group of people who are expert quarriers of linder stone. Their only contact with people outside their village is when the traders come to buy the linder and leave them with as little traded as possible.

Miri is small in comparison to the other girls in the village - all of whom work in the quarry. Miri's father has forbidden her to work there and has not explained why. She feels worthless in the eyes of all her neighbors.

Unexpectedly, the king's chief delegate comes to make an announcement in Mount Eskel. The king's priests had divined that the future wife of the heir to the Danland throne would come from Mount Eskel. All the girls between 14 and 18 were to go to the Princess Academy, where they would be learn poise, commerce, and Danlandian history along with reading and figures. Although none of the girls really wants to go and leave their families for a year, they set out to the Academy.

Their teacher, Olana, is cruel and thinks little of them. But she gets the girls to work harder when she shows them the beautiful silver dress that the Academy Princess, the top student, will wear when she meets the prince. In spite of the fact that Miri has strong feelings for a boy from Mount Eskel, she wants to be able to give her father and sister a better home - something she thinks they will receive should she be chosen as the prince's betrothed.

Miri's education moves beyond a simple grasp of Olana's teachings. She begins to learn things that can ultimately help her village with future trades - the first of which is that linder is a highly sought after stone, used in all the king's buildings and those of the wealthy class. And she also learns something that will save her life and the lives of all the girls at the Academy.

There was a point in this book where I started to feel the story winding down, like it was coming to its conclusion. As I was setting the book aside, I looked at the bookmark to see how close I was to finishing. Low and behold, I wasn't even half-way through! I was really surprised - and that led to my intrigue for the rest of the book. I really underestimated this novel. Just now, as I was typing, I happened to see a review on the back of the book - "This is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tale..." So true. I'm glad I didn't look at the back before I started reading. It's nice to discover things on your own. If you read Princess Academy, I hope you discover something enjoyable, too!