Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters

Last updated
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters
Princess Academy The Forgotten Sisters.jpg
The cover art for The Forgotten Sisters
Author Shannon Hale
Cover artistJason Chan
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesPrincess Academy
GenreFantasy
Published Bloomsbury USA, 2015
Pages326
Preceded by Princess Academy: Palace of Stone  
Website Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, Bloomsbury

Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters is a fantasy novel written by Shannon Hale and published by Bloomsbury USA in 2015. It is the third and final installment of the Princess Academy series, preceded by Princess Academy: Palace of Stone . It follows the story of Miri Larendaughter, who becomes a tutor to three royal cousins in a new princess academy in the swampy land of Lesser Alva.

Contents

Development

In an interview with Publishers Weekly , Hale commented that her idea for the plot of The Forgotten Sisters stemmed from a mention of a swamp region in the original Princess Academy novel. Hale wanted to explore that setting and the story of the three girls who are members of the royal family. [1] Because Princess Academy won a Newbery Honor, Hale felt "fear and pressure" in writing a worthy sequel; however, after releasing Palace of Stone, she had "dealt with fear ... and could move forward with the storytelling" for Forgotten Sisters. [2]

Plot

Miri is about to leave Asland to return home to Mount Eskel when she is summoned by the king, who explains that the neighboring kingdom of Eris has been conquered by Stora. In order to secure a good relationship with Stora and avoid war, the king has decided to establish a princess academy and offer a bride to Stora's King Fader. He asks Miri to travel to Lesser Alva, where three of his cousins live, to be their tutor and prepare them to come to Asland and meet the king. Despite the king's threats, Miri bargains that she will accept on the condition that she and the other graduates of Mount Eskel's Princess Academy become the owners of the land in their province. The king agrees, and Miri travels to Lesser Alva, a swampy area of Danland. She meets the three royal cousins - Astrid, Felissa, and Susanna, nicknamed "Sus." The girls hunt and fish to survive; their promised money from the king stopped coming when their mother died. Miri finally helps them banish the man who has been stealing their money. Now that they are able to buy food, they have time to learn how to read, and Miri establishes a princess academy in their small linder home in the swamp. The sisters become sad when they learn that one of them must marry a 72-year-old king. Meanwhile, Miri writes letters to Peder and to Marda, her sister, that are never received. Peder has left Mount Eskel to search for Miri and see if she is safe.

When Storan soldiers invade Lesser Alva, Miri, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus try to keep the sisters' royal identities a secret from the troops. When Miri tries to help a man the soldiers execute, they capture her, but she is rescued by a man named Dogface - one of the bandits that had held her hostage when she was at the princess academy on Mount Eskel. He tells her to figure out a way to free Lesser Alva, cuts her hair to change her appearance, and frees her. Later that night, Peder arrives and informs the girls that Stora has successfully invaded Asland. He helps them escape via a pirate ship. When they are intercepted by Storan sailors, Astrid pretends to be one of King Fader's daughters and successfully convinces the Storans.

When the ship arrives in Asland, the five of them jump overboard and retreat from the Storans. They break into the palace and find Queen Sabet, who immediately recognizes Astrid, Felissa, and Sus as the daughters she was forced to give away. Miri discovers that they are indeed princesses - Astrid being Crown Prince Steffan's twin, born first - and is outraged that the sisters were taken from their family out of fear that they would overthrow their brother, as a previous succession war had occurred between a royal twin sister and brother in Danland.

To stop the Storan invasion, Miri and Britta, Steffan's wife, escort the sisters to meet King Fader, only to learn that he has died. They realize the Storans had invaded on the pretense that King Bjorn had deceived Stora with the promise of a princess for a bride when he supposedly had no daughters. The Storans plan a secret attack on the palace in order to kill King Bjorn, which Miri thwarts by warning Peder through quarry-speaking. Though their plan to kill King Bjorn has failed, the Storans decide to use the girls as bait to lure the king into a trap. Miri, Britta, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus are thrown into a cell and treated horribly by the Storans, but meet King Fader's son, Kaspar, who has become the next king of Stora. He and Sus are close in age, and Sus proposes that they become betrothed in order to stop the war. Kaspar accepts, and a peace treaty is signed. The girls reunite with the royals and Peder and return to the palace.

Queen Sabet dismisses the chief delegate who took her daughters away from her and Britta is appointed the new chief delegate. The princesses are welcomed into the palace, and Steffan steps down as crown prince in favour of Astrid, who is the first-born in the family. Miri and Peder return home to Mount Eskel. Miri is reunited with her Pa and Marda, and tells them that the king has given the graduates of the princess academy ownership of Mount Eskel. The village celebrates, and Miri and Peder become betrothed.

Quarry-speech

In the first Princess Academy novel, Miri learned how to communicate non-verbally using the linder stone cut from Mount Eskel. Quarry workers use this "quarry-speech" to warn each other of dangers amidst the noise of their chisels and mallets. Miri discovered that quarry-speech operates by bringing the participants' past memories to their attention in order to alert them to events of the present. Because she and the other Eskelites have linder in their bones - after breathing in its dust and drinking water containing it - they are able to quarry-speak whenever they come in contact with linder. The "lowlanders" - those not from Mount Eskel - are unable to detect the messages. However, in Palace of Stone, Miri learns that the royal family is capable of a different kind of quarry-speech called "linder-wisdom." After living for centuries in palaces made entirely out of linder, they learned how to use its magical properties to detect the feelings of others. In Forgotten Sisters, Miri notices that the sisters have this ability, and Astrid, Felissa, and Sus use it to their advantage.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews praised Forgotten Sisters as "a laudable conclusion to a popular series," particularly for its themes of feminism, equality, family, and education. [3] In The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Kate Quealy-Gainer wrote: "Hale once again manages to create a cast of female characters diverse in their qualities and distinctly individual." [4] A Booklist review also praised the novel, saying: "Action-packed and well paced, the story's depth incorporates artful negotiation, the importance of education, and citizens' equality and rights." [5] Jonathan Hunt for The Horn Book Magazine commented that "the themes of feminism and equality that run throughout the trilogy blossom in the resolution of this concluding volume." [6] School Library Journal called the ending "happily ever after, with a satisfying twist." [7]

Awards and nominations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margrethe II of Denmark</span> Queen of Denmark since 1972

Margrethe II is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's longest-serving current female head of state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy of Belgium</span> Constitutional, hereditary and popular monarchy of Belgium

Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled King of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces. There have been seven Belgian monarchs since independence in 1830.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrid of Sweden</span> Queen consort of the Belgians from 1934 to 1935

Astrid of Sweden was Queen of the Belgians and the first wife of King Leopold III. Originally a princess of Sweden for the House of Bernadotte, Astrid became the Duchess of Brabant after her marriage to Leopold in November 1926. She was Queen of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until her death. Her charity work mainly includes women and children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Benedikte of Denmark</span> Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Dowager Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is a member of the Danish royal family. She is the second daughter and child of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. She is the younger sister of the reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, and the older sister of Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Ingeborg of Denmark</span> Danish Princess

Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, was a Princess of Sweden by marriage to Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland. She was the daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark, and the maternal grandmother of Harald V of Norway, Baudouin and Albert II of Belgium, the matrilineal great grandmother of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the paternal grand-aunt of Margrethe II of Denmark, and the great-grand-aunt by marriage of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Astrid of Belgium</span> Archduchess of Austria-Este

Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prince Lorenz of Belgium, head of the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is fifth in line of succession to the Belgian throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte, Princess Royal</span> Princess Royal

Charlotte, Princess Royal, was Queen of Württemberg as the wife of King Frederick I. She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of George III of the United Kingdom and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner</span> Norwegian princess

Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner is the second daughter of King Olav V and his wife, Princess Märtha of Sweden. She is the older sister of King Harald V of Norway and younger sister of the late Princess Ragnhild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen</span> Former Norwegian princess

Princess Ragnhild, Mrs Lorentzen, was the eldest child of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. She was the older sister of King Harald V and Princess Astrid. She was the first royal to have been born in Norway since the Middle Ages. In 1953 she married the industrialist Erling Lorentzen, a member of the Lorentzen family of shipping magnates. In the same year they moved to Brazil, where her husband was an industrialist and a main owner of Aracruz Celulose. She lived in Brazil until her death 59 years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Märtha of Sweden</span> Crown Princess of Norway (1901–1954)

Princess Märtha of Sweden was Crown Princess of Norway as the spouse of the future King Olav V from 1929 until her death in 1954. The current King Harald V is her only son. As Olav only became king in 1957, Märtha was never Queen of Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler</span> Mrs. Ambler

Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler, is a Swedish princess, the eldest sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and also a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Hale</span> American author (born 1974)

Shannon Hale is an American author primarily of young adult fantasy, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy and The Goose Girl. Her first novel for adults, Austenland, was adapted into a film in 2013. She is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Montana. She has also co-written with her husband, Dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este</span> Italian princess (1930–2022)

Margherita, Archduchess of Austria-Este was an Italian princess, the first-born child of Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, and Princess Anne d'Orléans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frog Princess</span> Fairy tale

The Frog Princess is a fairy tale that has multiple versions with various origins. It is classified as type 402, the animal bride, in the Aarne–Thompson index. Another tale of this type is the Norwegian Doll i' the Grass. Russian variants include the Frog Princess or Tsarevna Frog and also Vasilisa the Wise ; Alexander Afanasyev collected variants in his Narodnye russkie skazki.

<i>Lioness Rampant</i>

Lioness Rampant is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the fourth and last in a series of books, The Song of the Lioness. It details an adventure of the knight Alanna of Trebond, and her final battle with her archenemy, Duke Roger of Conte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valaya Alongkorn</span> Princess of Phetchaburi

Valaya Alongkorn, Princess of Phetchaburi, was a princess of Siam, and a member of the Chakri dynasty. She was the daughter of King Chulalongkorn and Savang Vadhana. Her older brother Vajirunhis was the first Crown Prince of Siam. She was also the elder sister of Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla, and the full aunt of kings Ananda Mahidol and Bhumibol Adulyadej.

<i>Princess Academy</i> 2007 fantasy novel by Shannon Hale

Princess Academy is a fantasy novel exploring themes of families, relationships, and education by Shannon Hale published on June 16, 2005, by Bloomsbury. It tells the story of fourteen-year-old Miri who attends a princess academy that will determine who wins the hand of the prince. The book was named a 2006 Newbery Honor winner as well as a New York Times Bestseller. It is the first in the Princess Academy series, followed by Princess Academy: Palace of Stone and Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters.

Ane Koldings was an alleged Danish witch. She was a main defendant in the Copenhagen witch trials held during the summer of 1590, which were held as a parallel to the famous North Berwick Witch trials in Edinburgh in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium</span> Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg

Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, was the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Jean. She was the first child of King Leopold III of Belgium, and sister of the late King Baudouin and former King Albert II and aunt of King Philippe. She was also the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, second cousin of Margrethe II of Denmark, and a maternal third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

<i>Princess Academy: Palace of Stone</i> 2012 fantasy novel by Shannon Hale

Princess Academy: Palace of Stone is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale published in 2012 by Bloomsbury USA. It is the sequel to Princess Academy, the first book in the series, and is followed by Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters. It continues the story of Miri Larendaughter as she visits the capital city of Asland to attend the Queen's Castle academy and the royal wedding. It is a New York Times best seller. It has been published in English, German, Russian, and Chinese.

References

  1. ↑ Lodge, Sally (19 Feb 2015). "Q & A with Shannon Hale". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  2. ↑ Rappleye, Christine (2015-02-24). "Shannon Hale shares lessons learned along the way to publishing third Princess Academy book". Deseret News. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  3. ↑ THE FORGOTTEN SISTERS | Kirkus Reviews.
  4. ↑ Quealy-Gainer, Kate (Jun 2015). "Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Baltimore. 68 (10): 493. ProQuest   1683724748 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Fredriksen, Jeanne (1 Nov 2014). "Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters". Booklist. ProQuest   1619363779 . Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.
  6. ↑ Hunt, Jonathan (Apr 2015). "Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters". The Horn Book Magazine. Boston. 91 (2): 96. ProQuest   1660466107 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ "Princess Academy: Palace of Stone". School Library Journal. 61 (6): 108. June 2015.
  8. ↑ Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters. OCLC   878953371.
  9. ↑ "Association for Library Service to Children/ALA Notable Children's Books - Nominated Titles for Discussion" (PDF). ALA. 2015. Retrieved 30 Apr 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.