Princess Academy

This New York Times bestseller and Newbery-Honor-winning fantasy novel is a compelling, warm and witty story of would-be princesses and one small but determined girl's destiny in the face of powerful social conventions.

Fourteen-year-old Miri lives in a poor mountain village which survives by quarrying stone. Then comes a surprise announcement that the prince of the country is to choose his bride from among the village girls. So all the eligible girls are taken to an academy to prepare for potential life as a princess.
But Miri soon finds herself at odds with the strict tutor and begins to feel less sure about being chosen as the princess, especially as her feelings for her childhood friend Peder start to grow. Instead she quickly becomes fascinated by what she learns about the world around her and begins to form her own plans about how to improve her lot and that of her village.

Miri is a wonderfully inspiring heroine whose adventures will keep readers hooked from start to finish.