Friday, January 18, 2008

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale


Rating: 1.2.1
Recommended audience: Pre-teens and up
Category: Fantasy, romance, YA Fiction

I've heard it said that this is the "golden age of children's literature." When I heard that I thought, "Yeah, Harry Potter is so awesome," and didn't think much more about it. As I've read other book blogs I've decided to look into some of these young adult and children's books and now I'm excited to read a lot more. This is my first book by Shannon Hale and I can't wait to read her other books. Princess Academy is set on Mount Eskel in a mystical world that the author describes so well that it feels like it really exists. It's not the kind of fantasy world where there are elves or sorcery or talking animals, just a few things with magical properties. All the girls ages 12-17 of Mount Eskel are required to leave their village and attend a Princess Academy where they learn what they need to know to be a princess. Then the prince of the lowlands will choose one of the girls to be his princess. It sounds silly and simple but it's not. The main character, Miri, is admirable and interesting, funny and kind. I definitely recommend this book for tweens and teens but their mothers would probably enjoy it too.

6 comments:

Kira =] said...

I haven't even heard of this! But, it sounds very good and I will definitely check it out. Thanks! =]

Kim said...

Nice to hear from you again. I've heard lots of good things about Shannon Hale's books. She's also LDS (it seems like you are too?).

Shelley said...

We did this one for a mother-daughter book club, but my daughter didn't read it (she's thirteen, need I say more?)I loved it though, and am looking forward to reading Goose Girl very soon.

Michelle said...

I read this book, thanks to your recommendation, and really liked it. I wondered if my 12-year-old niece would like it as well, but I'm not sure. I found it interesting enough to read it all in one day/night (staying up way too late!). Thanks for the recommendation; I'm on to Goose Girl next.

Anonymous said...

Funny that I've never heard of Shannon Hale until I started blogging and reading book reviews from bloggers. Where have I been? She even lives here in SLC, same as me. I have this one on hold at the library. After about three months I'm closing in on the top of the list. Can't wait to read it.

Anonymous said...

Could not sleep last time. Picked up this book and read the whole thing. Very cute book. I am going to check out other books by this author. Thanks for the recommendation.