Hale, Shannon Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, 272 p. Bloomsbury, MARCH 2015. $18. Content: PG (mild abuse)
Just as Miri is about to return to her beloved mountain home at the end of her year in the capitol, the king orders her to another part of the country in order to conduct a Princess Academy to find a bride to placate an invading enemy. In return, Miri demands that her village and the quarry be deeded to the girls of the Princess Academy, so that the are no long subject to the whims of the king. Agreed - but only as long as the foreign king weds one of the new princesses. Miri could never have imagined anyone living in worse conditions than she did in her poor mountain home, but that is what awaits her. And three girls who have no education, no one to love them, no one to care for them. Survival will take all of Miri’s wits, let alone trying to figure out who these girls are, why they are so important to the kingdom, and what all of the secrets are that everyone around the king has been keeping.
Just as Miri is about to return to her beloved mountain home at the end of her year in the capitol, the king orders her to another part of the country in order to conduct a Princess Academy to find a bride to placate an invading enemy. In return, Miri demands that her village and the quarry be deeded to the girls of the Princess Academy, so that the are no long subject to the whims of the king. Agreed - but only as long as the foreign king weds one of the new princesses. Miri could never have imagined anyone living in worse conditions than she did in her poor mountain home, but that is what awaits her. And three girls who have no education, no one to love them, no one to care for them. Survival will take all of Miri’s wits, let alone trying to figure out who these girls are, why they are so important to the kingdom, and what all of the secrets are that everyone around the king has been keeping.
I don’t know how long Hale has had this particular plot line rattling around, but IT IS BRILLIANT! Like book #2, it is by nature much more than a fairy tale or princess story. Hales weaves in lessons about power, greed, the faults of human nature. She also creates plenty of room for heroics that have nothing to do with the battlefield and weapons, but the battlefield of the heart and the weapons of courage and belief in yourself. Do not dismiss this is as a cute story for children. Instead, plan a book group around the whole series.
EL, MS - ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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