The Forgotten Sisters (Princess Academy Series #3)

by Shannon Hale

Overview

After a year at the king's palace, Miri has learned all about being a proper princess. But the tables turn when the student must become the teacher!

Instead of returning to her beloved Mount Eskel, Miri is ordered to journey to a distant swamp and start a princess academy for three sisters, cousins of the royal family. Unfortunately, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus are more interested in hunting and fishing than becoming princesses.

As Miri spends more time with the sisters, she realizes the king and queen's interest in them hides a long-buried secret. She must rely on her own strength and intelligence to unravel the mystery, protect the girls, complete her assignment, and finally make her way home.

Fans of Shannon Hale won't want to miss this gorgeously woven return to this best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619634862
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Series:	Princess Academy Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	914,740
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor?winning and New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Academy series; Book of a Thousand Days; The Books of Bayern; Dangerous; and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. She also wrote three novels for adults, including Austenland, now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell. She and her husband, the author Dean Hale, have four children and live near Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit Shannon online at www.shannonhale.com and on Twitter at @HaleShannon.
Shannon's mother says she was a storyteller from birth, jabbering endlessly in her carriage as the two strolled through the neighborhood; once she could form complete sentences, she made up stories, bribing her younger siblings to perform them in mini plays. When she was ten, she began writing books, mostly fantasy stories where she was the heroine, and she continued writing secretly for years while pursuing acting in stage and improv comedy. After detours studying in Mexico, the U. K., and Paraguay, Shannon earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah and a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Montana. In the interim, she submitted short stories and novels to magazines and publishers, saving all her rejection letters which she has since laminated into one continuous 60-foot roll which she proudly unfurls to audiences as a testament to her dedication and determination. Since the publication of her first book, The Goose Girl, in 2003, Shannon has become a beloved author to young readers as well as booksellers and educators. Her third novel, Princess Academy, earned her a Newbery Honor and is a The New York Times, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Shannon has also written two books for adults, Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife. Shannon lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, Dean, their children, and their pet, a small plastic pig.  www.shannonhale.com

Editorial Reviews

Action packed and wellpaced, the story's depth incorporates artful negotiation, the importance of education, and citizens' equality and rights. This final installment of The Princess Academy trilogy certainly leaves room for more books if Hale were so inclined. Won't she reconsider?” —starred review, Booklist

“Miri, as spunky and smart as ever, returns in the final book of the award-winning Princess Academy trilogy. . . . Hale maintains her high quality of storytelling, with lots of action, plot twists and lyrical writing. . . . A laudable conclusion to a popular series.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Hale once again manages to create a cast of female characters diverse in their qualities and distinctly individual, offering an inclusive portrait of what girlhood and womanhood look like.” —BCCB

“Hale keeps the action taut and the young women smart and savvy. . . A decade after the Newbery Honor-winning Princess Academy was published, this third and possibly final installment in the series will please old and new fans alike.” —School Library Journal

“As always, Hale is a terrific storyteller: she deftly juggles plot, character, and setting; her prose is lyrical yet economical; and the themes of feminism and equality that run throughout the trilogy blossom in the resolution of this concluding volume. Readers will be sad to say goodbye, not just to Miri and company but also to Danland itself.” —The Horn Book

“Powerful and deeply engaging.” —Kirkus Reviews on PALACE OF STONE

“Palace of Stone . . . proves once again that with quick wit and brave words, one person really can change the world.” —School Library Journal on PALACE OF STONE

“The book is a fresh approach to the traditional princess story with unexpected plot twists and great emotional resonance.” —2006 Newbery Committee on PRINCESS ACADEMY

“This is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tale. . . . Instead Hale weaves an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home.” —starred review, School Library Journal on PRINCESS ACADEMY

From the Publisher

06/01/2015
Gr 4–7—Miri is on her way back to wed Peder when the king asks her to educate three unruly sisters. As in the previous novels, Hale keeps the action taut and the young women smart and savvy. Things end happily ever after, with a satisfying twist. A decade after the Newbery Honor-winning Princess Academy was published, this third and possibly final installment in the series will please old and new fans alike.

School Library Journal

2014-12-06
Miri, as spunky and smart as ever, returns in the final book of the award-winning Princess Academy trilogy. At the end of her year at the titular academy, Miri is anxious to return to Mount Eskel and have her betrothal to Peder proclaimed. On the day of departure, however, the king requests that she travel to Lesser Alva, a swampy outer territory, to conduct a princess academy for three sisters. He hopes to prevent war by presenting them as potential brides for the king of a neighboring kingdom, who's possibly bent on invading. Miri finds herself bitten by snakes, wrestling caiman for food, eating rats and teaching the uncivilized sisters how to be bandits before she can teach them how to read. After uncovering a long-buried secret, Miri is fierce in righting wrongs, showing once again that one person can change the world. In a nice, feminist, concluding twist, a prince academy is established to groom a spouse for the new crown princess. Although not a traditional fairy tale, the ending is a happily-ever-after one. Strong female characters and themes of education, negotiation, family and equality are repeated in this conclusion. Hale maintains her high quality of storytelling, with lots of action, plot twists and lyrical writing. The cover is younger in style than and lacks the gravitas of the previous books' covers. A laudable conclusion to a popular series. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews