Princess Academy by Shannon Hale Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Princess Academy
Book Review: Princess Academy Review
Summary: 4 Stars
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is a timeless tale about how hard life can be. It is a fictional book with a pinch of humor and childish romance. But it also has touches of sadness and bitter sweet hopes, dreams, and beliefs. When the story begins, Miri, the pretty, brave, and petite main character, is in her village on Mount Eskel. She longs to work in the quarry like other children her age. At the same time she struggles between her wish to see things beyond the village and the desire to understand her father's grieving. This adventurous girl may just get her chance.
I really enjoyed this book. The perspective you see is that of a young girl in her early teens, who strives to be like other girls on the mountain. The book talks a lot about how she feels about different things. You start to feel what she feels and begin to understand her point of view. It makes you believe you are this wonderful, creative girl. You can really think like this girl quite easily, without even trying to imagine it.
Another reason I like it is because it's not like other princess stories. Miri had never imagined what life would be like if she married a prince. She doesn't have an evil relative. She also doesn't have anyone to help her through hard times, like a fairy godmother. It's nothing like Snow White or Cinderella, that's for sure.
I think that Shannon Hale used very good details. You could really picture everything that was happening. When she describes the academy, she writes `polished linder had been laid as the foundation'. She also writes `Three stairs led to the main door and columns supporting a carved pediment'. Those are just some of the sentences full of description.
The last reason why I enjoyed this book that I'm going to share with you is: the surprises. It's impossible that you would get bored with this book. At every corner you turn, there is something new awaiting you. There is always something thrilling to find out about the characters. This story is just a bundle of surprises.
Will Miri ever be like other girls? Will she finally get to the bottom of her father's grieving? Will she get to see things beyond the village? Will she ever get to work in the quarry? Will Miri's story out to be happily ever after? You'll have to read the book to find out!
Book Review: I must be crazy.
Summary: 1 Stars
I think that I am clearly insane, but I did not like this book. Everyone else in the world likes this book, but i am the insane person who does not. And I'm NOT sarcastic! I could barly read it a second time. I hated this book. Book Review: Princess Academy
Summary: 5 Stars
PRINCESS ACADEMY seems like it would be fluffy read for little girls who dream of being princesses, a possible Disney movie. However, PRINCESS ACADEMY is a well-told story with plenty of substance and well-drawn characters, if maybe a little stereotypical at times, and definitely deserves the Newbery Honor.
Fourteen-year-old Miri is small and believes herself to be useless, since her father refuses to allow her to work in the quarry, mining linder, Mount Eskel's only source of income. Miri longs to do something important, and that chance comes the Mount Eskel villagers receive the news that the prince is to marry a Mount Eskel girl. Now all girls ages twelve to seventeen are sent to the "princess academy" to learn how to read and write, as well as about commerce and diplomacy, poise and conversation.
Miri, is of course, a strong heroine whose intelligence and determination makes up for her size. Of course the tutor is strict, and there is the jealous older girls who thrive on insulting Miri. But of course Miri has her friends, all of whom are different and likeable.
Perhaps the story is predictable, but it is a warm story with some twists to it, and I found it difficult to put down. Hale's writing just amazes me. Her descriptions are beautiful and her protagonists are always believable characters whose feelings are always well-portrayed. Her settings, too, are wonderful. Though PRINCESS ACADEMY is fantasy, there is little magic that seems real, and Mount Eskel could easily enough be a real place.
PRINCESS ACADEMY is a great way to spend a relaxing afternoon or evening. Highly recommended.
Book Review: A 5-star read for teens
Summary: 5 Stars
Miri and her family live high on top of Mount Eskel. They and the other villagers make their living working in the quarry where they remove the linder stone. The valuable stone (the villagers don't know how valuable) is traded for supplies.
Miri has never been allowed to work in the quarry, and she longs to do so. She's filled with guilt, because she believes she's not big enough or strong enough to help her family. This is a young girl with some big self-worth issues.
Word arrives from the lowlands that a wife is to be chosen for Prince Steffan. And the girl chosen to be princess will come from Mount Eskel. Before Prince Steffan chooses his bride, all the eligible village girls must attend the 'academy' to prepare for life as a princess.
Twenty girls, including Miri, attend the academy where the headmistress is beyond strict, the competition is fierce and the cold winter isolates them all from their loved ones. Miri learns the secret of the linder that will help her village, challenges the headmistress' authority, and faces danger head on with only her courage, new knowledge and her ability to quarry-speak.
I love good middle reader and young adult novels. Not the 'tweener' books that seem so popular today, but good solid novels with purpose, moral values and a grand story. Princess Academy is all that and more. It is a gem within a genre of mediocrity. It is simply stunning. The plot is fast paced, unique, and the characters are so vivid they jump off the page.
The Princess Academy is a message of family, loyalty and what can be if you're determined to learn and succeed. And even if you're 'just' a young teen-age girl.
Armchair Interviews says: A quality novel that adults and children will love. It will make you yearn for more of Mount Eskel, Miri and her friends and family. Check out Hale's other novels, The Goose Girl and Enna Burning.
Book Review: Princess Academy is the "Queen"
Summary: 5 Stars
This enchanted story was a phenomonal book, filled with fantasy, friendship, and tons of fun. This book tells the adventures of a misfit girl who was sent away to a princess academy, to learn manners, history, discipline, and ballroom dancing. She at first never wanted to go to this unimportant school to meet a prince and be sent off
to marry him. But, along the way she learns a valuble lesson of friendship and honesty. She also learns more about herself and follows her heart, and when she returns to her village she becomes more than what they expect her of.The lesson she learns was more valuble than a kingdom or a palace. She learns about herself.