Princess Academy is a fantasy novel exploring themes of families, relationships, and education by Shannon Hale published on June 16, 2005, by Bloomsbury.
Hale drew from the similar concepts of speaking through wind, fire, and water found in her Books of Bayern series to develop this idea of communicating through stone.
She also drew upon her own experience growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, when writing about Mount Eskel and used medieval Scandinavian names for many of the characters.
On their final visit home before the big event, Miri's sister Marda gets in an accident while working in the quarry and breaks her leg.
Miri's excellence in her studies and her willingness to help her peers despite bitter competition eventually earn her the title of academy princess and the privilege of having the first dance with the prince.
Once the prince has left, promising to return in the spring to announce his choice, bandits attack the academy hoping to hold the princess-to-be hostage and demand a ransom.
At the academy, she discovers a passion for reading and manages to stand out among her peers due to her intelligence, critical thinking and leadership skills, and willingness to help her classmates despite bitter competition.
Britta Paweldaughter: A lowlander by birth who's initially presented as an orphan who moved to Mount Eskel to live with her only remaining relatives.
Deliberately setting herself apart from other girls, Katar comes across as snobbish and does not hesitate to demonstrate the extent of her learning as much as possible to the academy tutor, Olana Mansdaughter.
However, she reluctantly joins the other girls when they oppose Olana's unfair treatment, though she points out how they have broken the rules of the academy and the resulting consequences.
Throughout the novel, Peder seems to have a special connection to Miri, as he is able to hear her pleas for help (when bandits held the academy girls) when even her own father could not.
In addition, Peder has considerable artistic talent and finds a passion in carving linder, a hobby that is discouraged due to the need for extra hands to help with mining.
Miri is also allowed to attend school at the Queen's Castle and befriends a number of students, whose apparent sophistication and exciting lives fascinate her until she learns of their frightening plans to overthrow the monarchy.
Torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place.
After spending a year in Asland, Miri is looking forward to returning to Mount Eskel and reuniting with her family, but is unexpectedly ordered by the king to become the tutor at a princess academy for three royal sisters: Astrid, Felissa, and Susanna.
[10] A School Library Journal review described the book as "an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home".