I'll admit, when I announced the title, there were lots of groans, mostly from the boys, and I was worried that they wouldn't be able to get past their princess book prejudices and enjoy the story.
By the second day, the class was calling out, "Nooooooo!" when I would stop for the day (I love it when that happens).
Miri and the other girls from her remote mountain village are forced to attend a Princess Academy because the leaders of their land have declared that the next princess will come from their village.
Their reluctant instructor teaches them everything she can about manners, commerce, history, and other subjects, while dealing a hefty dose of humiliation and abuse.
During the winter, they are snowbound and unable to go home for visits. It is then that a band of hoodlums decides to hold them hostage until the king pays a handsome ransom, the girls must figure out a way to save themselves.
Author Shannon Hale won a Newbery Honor for this book and wrote 2 sequels - Princess Academy: Palace of Stone and Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters.
Her Books of Bayern series: Enna Burning, Goose Girl, River Secrets, and Forest Born, are also great reads for the intermediate crowd.
For younger readers, Hale has written The Princess in Black series, and for those with a taste toward pop culture, the Ever After High series might be just perfect for summer reading.
BookSpots interview with Shannon Hale
AdLit interview with Shannon Hale
Books Alive! interview with Shannon Hale (start at :58)
Library of Congress video - Shannon Hale talks about literacy
By the second day, the class was calling out, "Nooooooo!" when I would stop for the day (I love it when that happens).
Miri and the other girls from her remote mountain village are forced to attend a Princess Academy because the leaders of their land have declared that the next princess will come from their village.
Their reluctant instructor teaches them everything she can about manners, commerce, history, and other subjects, while dealing a hefty dose of humiliation and abuse.
During the winter, they are snowbound and unable to go home for visits. It is then that a band of hoodlums decides to hold them hostage until the king pays a handsome ransom, the girls must figure out a way to save themselves.
Author Shannon Hale won a Newbery Honor for this book and wrote 2 sequels - Princess Academy: Palace of Stone and Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters.
Her Books of Bayern series: Enna Burning, Goose Girl, River Secrets, and Forest Born, are also great reads for the intermediate crowd.
For younger readers, Hale has written The Princess in Black series, and for those with a taste toward pop culture, the Ever After High series might be just perfect for summer reading.
BookSpots interview with Shannon Hale
AdLit interview with Shannon Hale
Books Alive! interview with Shannon Hale (start at :58)
Library of Congress video - Shannon Hale talks about literacy
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