Princess Academy

Just as I was starting to read Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, I coincidentally stumbled upon her blog. She has recently been writing a series of blogs about who is responsible (the reader or the author) when a reader does not enjoy a book (1, 2, 3). This week I read about half of the book in SSR. On Thursday at the end of SSR I had my 6th graders get in a circle on the carpet, and I told them that they would have a chance to share a little about one of the books they have been reading for SSR and/or their home reading this week since I often see students trying to sneak in a quick conversation with someone sitting close to them to share their book. I started by modeling with my own book.

I briefly explained that the premise of the book was that one day a mountain community was surprised when they received notice that one of the girls in their community would become the princess. All eligible girls needed to attend a year-long academy in preparation for a ball in which the prince would choose his wife, the future princess. I shared with them that I would have to take the book home on the weekend because I could already tell that I was not going to be able to wait until next week to see how it ends.

One of the most avid readers in my class raised her hand and shared that a group of the girls were reading it last year as a literature circle selection, but they abandoned it after a few chapters because they just couldn't get into it. I thought back to Hale's first blog post (see above) and tried to hold back a chuckle. I told them that maybe it would be worth it to give the book another try sometime later on and explained how I have started and abandoned books before only to pick them up later and love them, unable to believe that I was able to put it aside previously (Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros is a perfect example). Another girl who had abandoned Princess Academy last year said she had also had similar experiences. Right now she is rereading Eragon, which she originally read as a 2nd grader. Although she enjoyed it the first time, she is more fully appreciating the book this time as she understands certain aspects that were hazy to her the first time. I am going to print off all three of Hale's posts to share excerpts to discuss with my class later during either reading or writer's workshop.

As I told my students, Friday afternoon came and I knew the book would be coming home with me. Last night I stayed up late, even though I was exhausted, because I just had to see the end of it. I won't give anything away, but I am going to share some of my thought process while reading the book. The reason why I told my students I couldn't wait to see the ending was because I was torn about what I wanted to happen. The main character Miri mentions feelings for a childhood friend Peder, but she also dreams about what it would be like to be a princess. She is a good person and a hard worker, so one part of me wanted Miri to become princess. Yet, I wondered where that would leave Peder and whether or not she would really be happy without him. A big part of me was hoping she would end up with Peder. Nonetheless, I was not sure whether I would be able to be satisfied without Miri getting her fairytale ending by having the prince choose her to be his princess at the ball. My mind started to work constantly considering who would become princess if not Miri and whether or not the option would result in a fulfilling ending. I considered many viable options from Katar, who although not as likable a character as Miri, had her own motivations for wanting to become princess to Miri's older sister, Margo, who missed the academy deadline by being just a little too old. I imagined that some unexpected turn of event may lead to the prince meeting Margo through Miri. That way I thought that Miri's family would not have to suffer because of their mountain lifestyle, but Miri would still be able to end up with Peder - the best of both worlds.

I was guessing and running ideas through my mind up until the very end of the book. I was very satisfied with the ending, as everything fell into place just the way it was meant to be. As I read the third installment right before writing this post, it was fun to get some inside information about the ending of the book. Hale said, "[... W]hen I wrote Princess Academy, I was pretty sure no one would like it, especially the ending. But I worked very hard to turn off those fears and the desire to second guess what readers want, and I wrote it to my internal reader. I remember doing book signings when it first came out and trying to talk people out of buying it, suggesting they read Goose Girl instead. Now, as I mentioned last post, Princess Academy has turned out to be my most popularly successful, as well as critically lauded, book. If I'd tried to write to the fans, or to what I thought the fans wanted, that book would have fallen flat on its face and disappeared. And it was also possible that the story that pleased my internal reader wouldn't please anyone else. But that was the risk I had to take." I could really relate to how she made a good judgment call by listening to her own internal reader because I myself was torn about what I wanted to happen at the end, but her gut instinct was a perfect ending.

Overall, I loved the book. I enjoyed reading it even more in conjunction with the author's insights on the blog. I appreciate that aside from thoroughly enjoying the book I also have a lot of discussion leads for class discussions about reading and writing.

(This is the 4th book I read for the Book Awards Reading Challenge.)