by Shannon Hale follows Miri a small girl living in a town that mines a special rock called linder. When a man from the capital arrives he tells the town that the priests have proclaimed that the next princess is to come from their town. To prepare all of the girls for the princes arrival all girls of eligible age are sent to a princess academy that has been created to educate the girls so that they can learn enough to be a princess. Miri initially does not want to go and the school mistress is cruel but she soon finds that she loves to learn and is able to use the knowledge that she has gained to help her town.This was not the pink encrusted bubbly book full of twittering girls that the title suggests. Instead it is a wonderful tales of girls realizing the importance of education and discovering their own self worth. Miri is a strong girl who learns to love learning, to be confident in her own abilities and is a fantastic role model.
Appropriateness: I would recommend this book for a 10-13 year old audience. There is a bit of romance but not enough that it would intimidate young readers. Miri is fourteen and her classmates are between the ages of twelve and seventeen, The lexile is 890 putting the book at a fifth grade reading level and it would be a great read aloud for older kids. The book comes with a readers guide complete with an author interview and discussion questions.
The audio version of this book (and other books by the same author) is narrated by full cast audio which uses a different actor for each character making for a delightful listening experience. We picked our copy up at the library.
