Since one of my favorite nightly activities is reading aloud to my children, I actively look for the Newberry Awards to be announced each year. Although I don't agree with every Newberry choice, on the whole I've been generally very satisfied with their selections for awards. That's why I was particularly excited when Shannon Hale from my very own Salt Lake City was given the Newberry Honor for her recent book, Princess Academy. With an 8 year old girl that loves to read (Harry Potter these days) and loves all things "princess," it seemed like the perfect book to read aloud.

I have to admit that the title did make me a little nervous that it was going to be a sappy fall in love with a prince story with a cutesy happy ending. Maybe I just judge a book by its cover/title without giving it a chance. Maybe I fall into the unfair stereotype that male readers like to have men as the main character. Maybe I inappropriately judge a book as a "chick book" like there are "chick flicks." But, boy was I wrong about this one.

Princess Academy follows the travails of Miri, a seemingly worthless 14 year old girl too small and feeble to work in Mount Eskel's quarrying industry. Then, one day she and other girls between 12-18 from Mount Eskel are commanded by the prince to attend the Princess Academy where one of the girls will be chosen to be the Prince's bride. The chosen princess will go off to live in a beautiful home far away from Mount Eskel and her family. The Princess Academy is located a three hour walk from their homes, and the 20 or so girls required to attend all have hope that they will be selected by the prince in what starts out as a friendly competition.

But this is no Disney princess fairy tale. The girls get isolated in the school by the winter snows, and being cut off from their families, become sometimes nasty to one another. In addition, these girls must deal with a teacher that seems unfair and sometimes brutal, and ruffians who attack without warning.

Hale weaves into the story issues of love, learning, manners, respect, maturity and courage. However, I was most impressed with her ability to capture the essence of how people change in perception and attitude, both in Miri's own perceptions, and how Miri is perceived by others. In that sense, it is a great coming of age book.

While some perceive this book as feminist (depending on how you define the term) literature, I don't like the label because politicizes an otherwise non-political book. I certainly grew to like Miri for her spunk, her courage, and her ingenuity, not necessarily because she was female.

I would highly recommend this book to all readers, both boys and girls (and men and women for that matter). However, I felt like my eight year old daughter was a little young for some of the more romantic portions of the book (which are so benign that the probably went over my daughter's head). I'm glad we have Shannon Hale in Mormon literature.

-----------------------------------

David Hansen
March 23, 2006