The importance and power of female friendship, support and communication in this book really cannot be overstated, and while there is a lot of competition between them especially in the start of the book, nearly all of the girls gradually learn that the most important thing is to support each other so they can all succeed. The prince is also fairly tangential to Miri’s story because the most important relationships in the books are the bonds that form between all of the academy girls. From the start, Miri is very aware of the way her people are stigmatized and judged for being “simple” mountain people and as she grows in knowledge and self-esteem her desire to fight against this unfairness only grows The prize that Miri wins at the end of the story is not a prince’s love it is confidence, the ability to negotiate and advocate for herself and her village, and the chance to stand up against the exploitation that is being enacted against her people. More than anything, this is actually a story about the doors that are opened by access to good education. I’ve been extremely lucky so far (or maybe Little Charlotte had excellent taste in books…) because Princess Academy stands up just as well as Ella Enchanted, Dealing with Dragons and The Hero and the Crown.įor all the emphasis that is put upon the girls preparing themselves to meet the prince, it’s fascinating just how incidental he ends up being in the grand scheme of the story.

I’m actually starting to dread the day when I re-read a classic from my childhood and it ends up disappointing me.

Does she even want to be princess if it means leaving her beloved mountain home? At the academy Miri will have to confront how big the world truly is and how little she knows of it, all the while struggling to find her place with the other girls and fighting the prejudice of her instructor. In response, every teenage girl in the village must leave her family to attend an academy intended to prepare them for the possibility of becoming princess. The simplicity of life in her village is shattered when word comes that the king’s priests have divined that the prince’s bride will be one of the village girls. Miri’s people have lived on Mount Askel for generations, quarrying rich stone for trade with the kingdom that lies below. Am I just using this reading project as an excuse to revisit the books that I read obsessively as a child? YOU KNOW IT. In my most drastic tonal shift to date, we will be going from talking about The Poppy War to discussing Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, a 2006 nominee for the Newbery Medal. No rain delays before the fall, just swing.” No sun pauses before the set, just strike.

No hawk wavers before the dive, so swing.

“No wolf falters before the bite, so strike.

Princess academy book