From: Linda Ward-Callaghan <lwcallaghan>
Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 16:14:12 -0500

I recently read PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale, which I found very enjoyable. When the King's seer declares that the Prince's bride is destined to come from Mount Eskal, Miri is not entirely thrilled when every girl in her village is sent away to a special school to learn how to be a princess. She would rather stay on the mountain, and she certainly doesn't want to marry the Prince! This novel plucks at the strings of "princess fantasy" through the viewpoint of the feisty Miri who wrestles with competing values and the issues of competition, peer pressure, loyalty, and friendship, and to define her own self-worth. It's a good complement to the "Harry Potter" - fantasy -school stories.

I've just begun THE RIVER BETWEEN US by Richard Peck. Set in southern Illinois in the early days of the Civil War, Tilly Pruitt's simple life is overturned when two mysterious women from New Orleans become boarders in the Pruitt home. It captures the differing political attitudes of the time, and Tilly's first-person narration keeps the reader suspended and eager to uncover the truth about the mysterious New Orleans women.

Linda Ward?llaghan Youth Services Lead Professional Joliet Public Library 150 N. Ottawa Street Joliet, IL 60432 815t0&62 FAX: 815t0a61 http://www.joliet.lib.il.us

"Information cannot replace education." ~~ Earl Kiole
Received on Tue 31 May 2005 04:14:12 PM CDT