Life on Mount Eskel is hard, but for fourteen-year-old Miri the mountain is home, and she loves it. Then a messenger from the king arrives with a stunning announcement: The royal priests have divined that the prince's bride-to-be must come from Mount Eskel. Soon Miri and the other girls must leave their homes for special training in how to be a princess -- though, of course, only one of them will be chosen. At the newly formed Princess Academy, a tutor named Olana struggles to mold the girls from peasants into possible princesses. Their training is harsh, sometimes fierce. But just as the workers of Mount Eskel labor to quarry valuable linder from the mountain, Miri learns to dig deep within herself, where she discovers amazing resources she never dreamed of -- resources she will need, if she is to save the academy from sudden disaster!
Shannon Hale's fantasy tells how Miri, a 14-year-old living in a mining village, comes into her own, saving the village from poverty and possible disaster and finding her place in the world. Narrator Laura Credidio's voice is pleasant and soothing, and her narration is well paced. The ensemble's acting is good, and the girls who attend the academy, including Miri, are uniformly charming. The casting reveals special care and intelligence in that the voices give dimension to the characters that the story bears out, a remarkable vocal foreshadowing that is due, of course, to the actors' skill. This sweet story will primarily interest 10-14- year-old girls, but even boys may enjoy it (though they may not admit it). W.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Shannon Hale has been a storyteller from birth, according to her mother. A former actress, she earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Montana. Shannon lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their two young children. You can visit her online at www.squeetus.com.
