Princess Academy

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Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy. New York: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2005.

Annotation: Miri goes to a princess academy with other girls from her village after the prince announces he will marry someone from that region.

Book talk:
I don’t want to go. All the teenage girls have to go to a princess academy. The prince said he will choose someone to marry from our region, but we are considered too uncultured and uneducated, so this academy is supposed to make us better. But I don’t even know if I want to be royalty. The academy is so far away from our home. Although I sometimes feel like an outsider in the community because I do not work in the quarry, I love our mountain home, my family and friends. I dream of staying here. What should I do?

Teen Recommended:
  Megan, 16, recommended this book: "[I like] fantasy. I like the magic."

Awards:

• Newbery Honor Book
• New York Times, Book Sense, and PW Best Seller
• A Book Sense Pick for Fall 2005
• An ALA Notable Children's Book
• 2007 Beehive Award winner
• A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• A New England Booksellers Association Top 10 Titles for Fall
• A Book for the Teen Age by The New York Public Library
• Honorable Mention for "Favorite Novel of the Year," PW's 2005 Cuffie Awards
• Winner of the 2006 Utah Children's Book Award
• A Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year, starred entry
• Nominated for the 2008 Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award
• Nominated for the 2008 Colorado Children's Book Award
• Nominated for the 2008 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award
• Nominated for the 2008 Young Reader's Choice Award, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Library Association
• Nominated for the Illinois 2008 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
• Nominated for the 2010 Maud Hart Lovelace award (Minnesota)
• A 2007 DCF Voting Top Ten (Vermont)
• A Salt Lake Tribune Best Book of 2005
• Recommended Reads for Kids 2005 (Dover Community News)

Awards source: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/princess_reviews.html

Extras:

• Author website: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html

Entwined

Image credit: LibraryThing.com

Dixon, Heather. Entwined. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2011.

Annotation: After Azalea’s mother dies, her father, the King, wants his daughters to go into mourning. Refusing to give up dancing, the sisters enter the enchanted path to dance the night away, but there is a cost.

Book talk:

Will they become Entwined? After her mother died, the King forbade Azalea and her eleven sisters to dance anymore. But how can they do that? Not only did they lose a mother, but now they have lost what they have enjoyed the most. However, the sisters found a way. Similar to The Twelve Dancing Princesses, the sisters sneak off in an enchanted passage to dance the night away with the Keeper. All seems great at first, but the Keeper might not be what he seems. Will they be able to protect their kingdom, or will they become Entwined?

Enjoy the book trailer from Harper Collins:

Awards: None.

Extras:

•      Check out the author’s blog: http://story-monster.blogspot.com/