by Shannon Hale
2006 Newbery Honor Book
This book took a while for me to get into, but I knew that since it was supposed to be about a princess, I would eventually get into it. The story focuses on the life of Miri, a mountain girl growing up on Mount Eskel, a territory of Danland. The way that the author described the people that Miri lived with reminded me much of how some people see those from Eastern Kentucky--uneducated, hard-working, poor, and basically ignorant due to lack of formal education. The people of this area all help to mine linder, a white stone resembling marble and known throughout the kingdom for its beauty and strength. Miri, however, is too small to help unlike her older sister Marda, so she feels like she doesn't belong. One day, a messenger from the king is sent to the village to announce that the prince is to be married to someone from the area, and that all girls age 12-17 will attend a Princess Academy to learn to read, write, and conduct themselves like a princess. This proclamation is met with much disagreement from the parents of the girls, since they normally help in the mines. However, all the girls in the age range are forced to attend the academy taught by Tutor Olana: a very strict, intelligent woman who formerly tutored children of the court. To teach the girls, she uses various punishments like beatings of hands for speaking out, time-outs in the closet (where a rat lives), taking away of meals, and eventually she even takes away the privilege of going home for the rest day (Sunday). Miri tries to stand up for the girls on multiple occasions, but only ends up getting herself, as well as the other girls, in trouble. At the end of the year, the prince will come to the academy for a grand ball, where he will choose his bride--a competition that every girl wants to win. Miri struggles throughout the book with herself, trying to be the best in the class, yet unsure if she even WANTS to be the prince's bride. She befriends a few classmates along the way, especially Britta and Esa, which help her keep some sanity, and eventually saves the day on more than one occasion. In the end, while still trying to figure out who/what she wants to become, she plays an integral part in saving all the girls--and ends up finding out how she truly wants to spend her life.
I really liked how this book focused on a small village and the people living there, with a relatively small set of characters. This would make it much easier for a student to read and keep up with, especially since the character names are somewhat odd--Marda, Esa, Britta, Bena, Peder, Liana, etc. However, I really liked how much students today could potentially identify with Miri--how she was a bit of an outcast, yet through personality and by trying so hard academically, she turned into the girl that everyone wanted to be--the girl that everyone thought the prince would choose. She also learned a lot about herself, going from being a "child" in the beginning to a young woman at the end of the story. Not many of the other characters grew as much as Miri did, who I think is a great example for readers to identify with. Although I have not read any other books by the author, I would imagine that they read along the same difficulty level (which, at 314 pages might be a bit much for some readers), but the pages flew by as the story climaxed. The author definitely has a way with words, enabling her to transport you to the mountains where Miri and her family lived without confusing the reader.
I would definitely recommend this book to be read by someone wanting to be transported to another place and time, and someone who might "beat to their own drummer"--since Miri is for sure a one-of-a-kind girl.
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