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. Sent to an academy to learn how to become a princess, Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and even bandits intent on kidnapping the future princess.
I found this book sitting on our bookcases several years ago, saw the word “Princess” in the title, and knew I had to read it. A lot of people don’t like “Princess books.” They think that they’re all fairy tales where the princess sits around and waits for her prince to show up.
But I love Princess books. And it seemed like there was something different about this book – when I read the back it drew me in.
Let me just say, I’m so glad I read this book! And I’m not the only one in my family who loves it – my brother Colter enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to unpack it and give it to some of my other brothers.
Miri is the weakling in her village, and as such, isn’t allowed into the linder mines to help. She feels pretty useless, even though she takes good care of her Pa and sister, Marda.
When the news comes that the Priests have decided that Mount Eskel is the home of the future princess, the village girls are conflicted. If they’re a certain age, they’re ordered to the Princess Academy to learn how to be a princess. The academy is complete with a rat infested closet, mean school teacher, and bandits in the winter.
Will Miri be chosen to become the next Princess? Or will one of the other girls? And a better question – will they be safe when the bandits take over the school, or will the bandits take them as they’ve planned?
My Favorite Scene
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“Don’t think we won’t follow you,” said Peder. Snowflakes lay thick in his tawny curls, silver crowning gold. “We’ll hound you as far as the sea if we have to.”
Some of the adults frowned at his outburst, but Peder did not take his eyes from Miri and Dan. He prodded Jans and Almond, Bena’s older brothers, and they followed him away from the line of villagers to the left of the three bandits. Miri felt Dan shift.
“Not so close, little kitten,” said Dan. “I’m a thief and a murderer, remember? You can’t trust me not to kill her out of spite.”
Peder and the others slowed, but they kept advancing to Dan’s right, forcing him to change his path just a little. Miri thought it was enough. She concentrated on keeping her body relaxed, not stiffening in anticipation, giving Dan no indication of what she was about to try.
Don’t hesitate. Just swing. Miri grabbed the linder hawk from her pocket, held it like a dagger, and stabbed Dan’s wrist with the sharpened tip of an outstretched wing.
Dan hollered and let go. Miri dropped to the ground, rolled away from him, and crawled through the snow. The shock of pain lasted only a moment, and he yelled and leaped after her.
But there was the edge. Miri did not have time to be careful. Hoping she had judged her position correctly, she rolled over the cliff and reached for the rocky shelf where she and Katar had talked the day of the exam.
She hit earth, but the relief filling her chest was stopped by the sickening feeling of her feet sliding off the ledge. Her hands scrambled for a hold and found the hanging roots of a cliff tree. She looked up to see Dan step over the edge, his face wide with surprise to find no ground beneath his feet. He fell.
Miri’s body shook with a hard yank. Dan had one hand on the cliff, another on her ankle.
The wood creaked in her hands. The root slid from its hold in the ledge like a snake through water, then jerked to a stop. Below, Dan clenched her leg, and farther down, the snow kept falling, falling, so far that she could not see a flake come to rest at the bottom. The falling snow made the cliff seem to run on forever, like a river stretching out to the faraway sea.
Her hands were on fire, her leg was numb. She tried to kick him off, but could not budge his weight. Dan tried to climb the cliff wall with one hand, using her leg to pull himself up. Miri screamed from the pain of holding on. Her hands were slipping, and she felt herself nearly falling with the snow.
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The Verdict: 5 of 5 Stars
Yeah, I know, I give all the books four or five stars. But look at it this way – I’m only reviewing the ones I love, not all of the three and two star ones! 😀
But seriously, this book is a five star book. 🙂
Sequel: Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
I’ve written about Shannon Hale on my blog before – during the A to Z Challenge, she was my H, in the blog post H is for Hale.
