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Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Summary

When a prince announces that he will choose a bride from her small mining village, fourteen-year old Miri is sent to a special academy for potential princesses. There, she and several other mountain girls will spend one year learning how to behave in a royal manner. In order to endure the separation from her family, the strict commands of her tutor, and a kidnapping attempt Miri must rely on her wits, new friendships, and her mysterious “quarry-speech” ability.

Booktalk

At age fourteen, Miri feels like the most useless person in her mountain village. She has never been allowed to work in the mines like she's always longed to do. She's shorter than kids who are much younger. And she is “skinnier than a lowlander's arm.” But then the villagers get some surprising news from the chief delegate of the far off capital city: It has been decreed that the prince shall select his future bride from among the young women of Miri's village. In one year the prince will meet all of the girls at a fancy ball and select one to become his princess. To prepare for this, all girls between the ages of twelve and seventeen enroll in a newly established academy which will “turn uneducated girls into ladies.” Though the academy is run by an exceedingly unpleasant lowlander who uses closets, palm lashings, and insults as her primary teaching methods, most of the girls still hope for the chance to wear the silver crown of the princess. Kiri often shares that hope, but at the same time she finds that her year in the academy teaches her much more than manners and culture. She makes new friends (and enemies), learns the value of disobedience, and makes occasional use of a magical power she has called “quarry-speech.” That power becomes particularly important when, in the heart of winter, the princess academy is invaded by bandits.

314 pages, 5th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. As you read the book, were there times you wished for Miri to be chosen as princess? And times when you hoped she would not be chosen?
  2. What qualities does Miri have that helped her to make friendships with the other girls, even the more difficult ones like Katar?
  3. What did you think of “quarry-speaking?” If you had the same ability, how would you use it?
  4. What was the most exciting portion of the book? What made it so exciting?
  5. The girls disliked and feared her, but was there anything about Olana that made her a good choice to be their tutor?
  6. Who seems like a better match for Kiri: Prince Steffan or Peder? In what ways?
  7. How did Miri's visit to Asland change the way she thought of her Mount Eskel home?
  8. Discuss some of the ways Kiri's relationships with the rest of her family are especially important to her story.
  9. How did the lessons in diplomacy, conversation, and courtesy help Miri and the other academy members?
  10. In what ways is Miri similar to the miri flower which inspired her name?

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