I think it was the beautiful world building that captured by heart. The small town mountain lifestyle and fierce togetherness of the people, yet how they’re willing in the end to listen to their own, grow, try new things, and better themselves. The concept of speak through the lindor—wow! And how tight a bond it forms among those in the quarry and later in the girls at the academy through Miri. Other violence includes a physical fight between an enemy soldier and a younger girl (this girl challenged the soldier to the fight, which he didn't want to do, until she kept pushing) in which the soldier tries to hit the girl and the girl headbutts him in the stomach. a b Hale, Shannon (2015). "A conversation with Shannon Hale". Princess Academy. New York, New York: Bloomsbury USA. pp.308–309. ISBN 9781619636132.

Oliphant, Clarissa (2015-06-03). "BYU debuts world premiere of 'Princess Academy' ". The Daily Universe . Retrieved 2020-04-20. Bulsiewicz, Michelle Garrett (October 4, 2019). " 'To erase it felt like a lie': Utah author Shannon Hale on including her religion in graphic novel series". Deseret News. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022 . Retrieved August 23, 2022. Britta Paweldaughter A lowlander by birth, Britta is initially presented as an orphan who moved to Mount Eskel to live with her only remaining relatives. She has a difficult time fitting into the local culture, and her silence is often misinterpreted by her peers as typical lowlander arrogance. At the princess academy, she befriends Miri and several other girls, although she never manages to hear the unique "quarry-speech" that unites all residents of the mountain. Britta starts out as the only girl who could read, although she tries to hide the fact in the hopes of blending in. It is later revealed that Prince Steffan had been Britta's childhood playmate and later love interest. Her father is a nobleman and has deliberately sent her to Mount Eskel under a false pretense so that she could wed the prince. In the end, Britta is selected by Steffan as his chosen princess and leaves to prepare for a future with the man of her dreams. Peder Doterson Peder is a fifteen-year-old boy and a resident of Mount Eskel who works in the quarry with the rest of the village. He and Miri were childhood friends, and once they grew older, their affection for each other blossomed into romantic love, a fact that they both feared to reveal. Whereas Miri considers herself scrawny, useless, and undesirable compared to other village girls, Peder is discouraged by his belief that Miri desires to marry the prince. Throughout the novel, Peder seems to have a special connection to Miri, as he is able to hear her pleas for help (when bandits held the academy girls) when even her own father could not. In addition, Peder has considerable artistic talent and finds a passion in carving linder, a hobby that is discouraged due to the need for extra hands to help with mining. However, as conditions improve due to Miri's skills in commerce, Peder is able to spend time on his hobby and looks forward to the day when he can formally study from a skilled artisan. Companion Books [ edit ] In February 2016, Hale was a Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 34th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium. [36]I love Miri for her cleverness, courage, vulnerability and humor and I love all of the girls of the academy, from shy fellow outcast Britta to Katar, the “mean girl” of the group. Consistently nasty as she is to Miri, it is ultimately revealed that her unkindness and competitiveness come from her fierce unhappiness on the mountain and her desperate desire to know other places: Official Disney Princesses: Snow White • Cinderella • Aurora • Ariel • Belle • Jasmine • Pocahontas • Mulan • Tiana • Rapunzel • Merida • Moana • Raya I couldn't get around the unseemly and awkward phrasing, so bad I couldn't enjoy the story. My impression is that the author is not well-read; her word-usage is just slightly off. The combination of bulky sentence structure and jarring words felt pretentious to me. The poetry, intended as quarry-work songs, was nauseatingly trite. Ech! Unfortunately, these aren't sporadic issues, they inundate the entire novel. Definitely could have used more editing. Best Friends | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021 . Retrieved April 3, 2023. When Storan soldiers invade Lesser Alva, Miri, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus try to keep the sisters' royal identities a secret from the troops. When Miri tries to help a man the soldiers execute, they capture her, but she is rescued by a man named Dogface - one of the bandits that had held her hostage when she was at the princess academy on Mount Eskel. He tells her to figure out a way to free Lesser Alva, cuts her hair to change her appearance, and frees her. Later that night, Peder arrives and informs the girls that Stora has successfully invaded Asland. He helps them escape via a pirate ship. When they are intercepted by Storan sailors, Astrid pretends to be one of King Fader's daughters and successfully convinces the Storans.

Anyway, that gripe aside, this audiobook was different from the previous two because it had only one narrator rather than a full cast, but the narrator was good on her own and I still enjoyed it. Nominated for the 2008 Young Reader's Choice Award, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Library Association Hunt, Jonathan (Apr 2015). "Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters". The Horn Book Magazine. Boston. 91 (2): 96. ProQuest 1660466107– via ProQuest. The resolution of the primary conflict (who gets to be the princess) felt too much like a plot-device (I can't say more without giving away the ending) that the author threw into the story to avoid a painful conflict between the characters.Bio-Leanne, or Lee as her friends called her, was not very princess like in the first place. If anything at all, she was a total punk, or even, to some points, emo. Her parents, the king and queen of Germany (I'm not sure if they have a monarchy or not anymore) never really liked her. She had been sent to many academies in the past as pointless attempts to make her more lady-like, but they never worked. Lee was never really the girly type, but she did have friends. Mostly common boys who she met while sneaking out of her castle. Alan Menken was very excited about the project and agreed to work on it the moment we would have green light from the studio. After months working on it, with hundreds and hundreds of storyboards and concept art, the Disney Animation hand drawn studios closed its doors. So there was no point for us to even show that project. I should probably only admit this through the relative anonymity of the Internet. Seriously … Princess Academy? What am I, eleven?! Oh well.) :-)

Quealy-Gainer, Kate (Jun 2015). "Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Baltimore. 68 (10): 493. ProQuest 1683724748– via ProQuest.Miri just wants to make her father proud and be like all Mount Eskel's people mining its beautiful stone. But when an opportunity for her to be a Princess is forced on their people, can she refuse? Or will this new path change her life forever? a b Blasingame, James (March 2010). "Interview with Shannon Hale about "Rapunzel's Revenge" ". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 53 (6): 518–520. JSTOR 25614598. Violence: The "worst" instance of violence in this book was when Miri witnesses the beheading of an unnamed character by soldiers. It is described in a way that is emotionally impactful, but not visual or graphic. Basically, all we the reader "see" is the sword raised over the poor man, the sword falls, there's a splash of the head falling into the water, and then the next thing we "see" is blood on the sword. Juris, Carolyn (30 Apr 2012). "Children's galleys to grab". Publishers Weekly. 259: 33+ – via Gale General OneFile. Shannon Hale interview: Girl (and boy) power". The Writer. January 31, 2018. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020 . Retrieved March 27, 2020.