For many years, the people of Mount Eskel have been a neglected part of a larger kingdom, their remote region noteworthy only for the stone they quarry and their fiercely independent ways. That’s how it is, and that’s how they like it, having very little interest in the world of the lowlands. For Miri, her only real goal is to be allowed to work in the quarry as well, like everyone she knows, but it’s the one thing her father absolutely forbids her to do, so instead she reluctantly deals with housework and trading when the lowland traders come up every year. Little does she, or anyone else, realize that things are about to change. It all starts with a prophecy, that the prince will marry a girl from Mount Eskel. Since it wouldn’t do for the prince to marry an unworthy, uneducated commoner, the tradition has long been for the eligible girls of the prophesied region to attend a special finishing school. And so the Princess Academy is built on Mount Eskel, and its eligible teenage girls all but forced to attend it, competing with one another for honor, privilege, and the chance to marry Prince Steffan. For Miri and her friends, it’ll be a time of testing and internal strife, as they’re put through their paces by the tyrannical Olana, punished severely for any rulebreaking or test-failing. But in some ways, it’s a chance for the girls to shine, to discover their strengths and weaknesses, and to grow into their abilities. And when a true crisis strikes them, the girls of Mount Eskel will face their most dangerous test yet. But in the end, the question remains: who will Prince Steffan choose, and how will it change Mount Eskel’s standing in the kingdom? The answer isn’t what you think it is.

Once again, Hale manages to knock stereotypes and common fairy tale elements sideways. In The Princess Academy, she gives us strong heroines who don’t sit around waiting to be saved, or dreaming of a happily-ever-after. No, they have their own plans, their own minds to speak, and are quite capable of saving themselves when necessary. For the most part, they don’t dream of growing up to marry the prince; they have other dreams, and pursue other destinies, and have to be forced to attend the academy. These are bright, stalwart, unconventional heroines, worthy of admiration, and Miri is the best of the bunch, especially once she discovers her hidden talents. The Princess Academy is a rare thing: a modern fairy tale that owes almost nothing to the classics, yet fits right in with them. Hale hasn’t let me down yet; The Princess Academy is just as good as The Goose Girl and Enna Burning. Though aimed at a slightly younger audience than the first two, Hale doesn’t compromise or sacrifice plot, characterization, or complexity. Don’t miss this.