BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSFourteen-year-old Miri lives on Mount Eskel, a remote mountain village where her family and neighbors mine a rare stone called linder. Miri has always felt like an outsider, too small to work in the quarry alongside everyone else and unsure of her place in her community. When a royal messenger arrives to announce that the kingdom's priests have divined Mount Eskel as the home of the future prince's bride, all girls between twelve and seventeen are ordered to attend a newly built princess academy near the mountain pass. Within days, soldiers arrive at dawn to escort the girls away, and Miri finds herself at the academy under the strict authority of Tutor Olana, facing a year of lessons in reading, history, diplomacy, and court manners, with the promise that the prince himself will come to choose a princess from among them.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Princess Academy
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Princess Academy. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a girl wake to the sleepy bleating of a goat before dawn?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Miri wakes up in the dark to her family's goats stirring. She's eager to follow the quarry workers to work, but her father refuses to let her set foot in the quarry. This opening scene sets up Miri's longing to be useful and her frustration at being left behind.
- First half
In what book does a girl address a village council about unfair trading practices?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
At the spring holiday village council, Miri stands up and explains what she learned about supply and demand and the true price of linder. She argues that the villagers should demand gold coins instead of settling for whatever meager supplies the traders offer. Her father nods slowly and says it's worth the risk.
- First half
In what book does a girl find a carved stone hawk left on her windowsill?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The morning after returning to the academy, Miri looks out the window and discovers a linder hawk carved with sharp eyes and outstretched wings. Footprints in the mud lead from the village road to the window and back. She knows Peder carved it for her, since he once called her a hawk.
- Second half
In what book does a woman say, "Unhappiness can't stick in a person's soul when it's slick with tears"?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
After Miri's father yells at her to get out of the quarry following Marda's accident, Miri runs away sobbing. Doter catches her and holds her tight, comforting her with these gentle words while Miri cries on her shoulder.
- Second half
In what book does a girl wave cheekily at a carriage window, hoping the person inside can see her?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
When the prince's carriage arrives at the academy pulled by four pale horses, Miri spots the curtain shivering as if a hand is touching it from behind. Certain the prince is peeking out, she smiles and gives a playful wave, which makes Esa giggle and slap her side.
- Near the end
In what book do captive girls take turns reciting a traditional story about their ancestors defeating invaders?
✓ Answer
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Miri begins telling the spring holiday story about how villagers once defeated bandits, and when she is silenced, Esa picks it up, then Frid, then Katar. The bandits gag one girl after another, but the next one keeps going, and every girl joins Katar for the last line. Even the bandits who stayed quiet look uneasy by the end.
