Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Wow, this book was cute. It left me wanting more at the end. I read it really quickly too. I finished it last night around one in the morning. The story is about a girl who lives in a mountain village and learns that she among other girls in the village must attend a princess academy. When the prince of the land is of age the priests divine which town the future princess must be chosen from and this time Mount Eskel is chosen. Because mountain people are somewhat uneducated and looked down by the lowlanders the academy is begun to turn the girls into proper, educated young ladies. After a year the prince will come and choose his bride from among the girls. Miri, who has never felt like she has added anything to the village since her father refuses to let her work in the quarry with everyone else, works really hard while enduring cruelty from her teacher to win the title of Academy Princess and get the first dance with the prince. During this process, Miri is outcast from the girls but soon makes new friends and learns what she wants to do with her life, but ultimately she must decide if she really wants to be a princess if she is chosen. I'm excited to read Shannon Hale's other books.