Princess Academy

 Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale

This book is a genuinely fun read. The main characters seem well developed, and I wish that I could quarry-speak!
Miri is a short fourteen-year old girl, who lives on Mount Eskel. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father doesn't let her help in the quarry, breaking blocks of linder from the mountain. Because she can't help there, she feels useless. Instead of quarrying, she does the house-hold chores fro her older sister, Marda. She has a normal life, a crush on Peder, and will try to get more from the traders then usual.
That is, until the man with the fancy hat arrives, and says that all of the girls from age 13 to age 17 have to go to the princess academy, and that one of them will get to marry the prince.
This book is awesome, has a surprise ending, and it has bandits, rats, mean teachers, reading, discoveries, and most importantly, Miri discovers the truth about herself.
This book is recommended to people between the ages of 7-14+. It is really a great book, and the beginning of a trilogy! It has adventure, fantasy, and basically a boarding school.