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Princess Academy
Since I can't...
Since I can't find Grace's, let's start again. This will be the official first thread for the book club discussion! Here are some questions to get us started.
1. What do you think of the book so far? What is good about it? What don't you like?
2. Who is your favorite character so far?
3. If you, like me, haven't read it before, where do you think Shannon Hale is going with the plot? In other words, what do you think will happen next?
4. What are some themes you can find from reading the first few chapters?
submitted by Lena
(June 24, 2009 - 10:54 am)
(June 24, 2009 - 10:54 am)
Cool! You've got some good ideas there... :P
(June 28, 2009 - 11:44 pm)
Somethings wrong. I think there's a page missing. :(
(June 28, 2009 - 11:45 pm)
In the book, you mean? So far I haven't encountered that. Tomorrow I don't know if I'll get around to reading because it's my sister's birthday, but I promise I'll make up for it somehow. The discussion's slowing a little, here are some more questions:
(Caution: if you have not read up to chapter 16, this may contain spoilers.)
1. In Chapter 16, Miri uses quarry-speech to give the other girls the right answers in the final test so that they can go to the ball. Do you think this is wrong? Why or why not?
2. When Marda had her accident in Chapter Fourteen, I was confused. The ending of the chapter made me think that she had died. Did anyone else (who didn't already know) think this?
3. In Chapter 16, Miri is voted academy princess because the other girls voted, and not because of her scores. Miri is a likeable person and I'm glad for her, but did anyone else think it was unfair that the title of academy princess was awarded to the most popular girl? I felt bad for Katar at the end of the chapter; did anyone else feel this way?
I may add answers of my own, but I want to see your responses first.
(June 29, 2009 - 11:04 am)
answer to #1. i think that it was good that she helped them. it wouldn't be fair if some of them didn't go to the ball. What had they been doing all year? Learning things because they just wanted to? Or were they there to meet the prince and have him choose one of them? Wasn't the prince going to have to choose one of the girls from Mount Eskel? And did it really matter if they learned all those things just so they could marry him. What if the girl that he was destined to marry didn't get to go to the ball.
answer to #2. I was confused too. Why had her dad get mad at Miri? Did he think that she had made MArda fall? I'm happy she just broke her leg.
answer to #3. It was partly because of her scores. I felt bad for Katar too. I don't know if it was fair or not. i think thatthey should've stuck to the highest score. Maybe Olana did and they got the same score. The girls liked Miri and they thought she deserved it.
(June 29, 2009 - 4:00 pm)
Acckk! *racks brain* *runs grabs book on shelf* I don't remember any of this!!! To the reread couch!
(June 29, 2009 - 9:55 pm)
3:
It was a mix of her popularity AND her scores. The girls chose the girl who they thought most deserved the title, and I think Miri was the right choice. Being friendly and kind should also have some say in who is awarded the title.
(June 29, 2009 - 9:50 pm)
1. No, I don't think it was wrong. If it had been something much more drastic, I think it would have been good for her to consider it more, and discuss it with the others if she got the chance, but I think it was good of her to help the others. After being forced to attend the school, leaving their families to fend for themselves, and spending so long learning everything, I believe it would have been unfair to not let them go to the ball.
2. No, I didn't get that impression, but maybe that's because I've read it before... I don't think so, though. Anyway, I don't know if any of you read it, but Doter explains it to Miri why her dad became so angry. :)
3. I see your point. It's a good question. I think it was not the best choice, and agree that it was a bit unfair, but I don't know if under the circumstances, they had much other choice. Another test wouldn't do much good, seeing as they had already had several, and with pretty much the same result each time, and if Olana had chosen by who she thought more worthy, it would have been less fair, because it would be one person's choice, as opposed to how ever many girls there are. :)
(June 30, 2009 - 11:34 pm)
No, I meant that I thought there was a page missing from this thread, because I'm scatterbrained, and thought something I had written to someone was missing, because I had miss read my own name to be Lena's. Ack.
(June 30, 2009 - 11:25 pm)
I agree with Lena about it being unfair that the girls got to vote. Yes, Miri is friendly and kind, and most of the girls are nice enough to be good voters, but Tutor Olana wouldn't know anything about how well they'd choose. There was a time when they would have chosen Katar over Miri! That doesn't make it fair! Believe me, you don't want to know what kind of person the girls at my school would have chosen.
(June 30, 2009 - 9:27 am)
AAHH!!!! The suspense!! I can't stand it!!!!! I don't care if I know the end!! It's so HARD!!!!
(July 2, 2009 - 2:52 pm)
Great book choice Grace! I'm really enjoying Princess Acadamy. But i'm haveing a little trouble figuring out which chapter i'm supose to be one, just to clear it today i am to read Chapters 20 and 21?
(July 2, 2009 - 8:36 pm)
There must be some kind of mistake. I'm on 23 and 24 today. Knowing me, it's probably me with the mistake.
When we're all finished, why don't the people with the edition of the book (like me) that has the discussion questions ask some of those? They look good. I noticed one of them is very similiar to one I asked.
(July 3, 2009 - 11:25 am)
Okay... let's see. The first ones are all way too easy, but they get better... Esa says, "Katar's a thornbush protecting a hare that's too skinny to eat" (pg. 157). What does she mean? What type of person is Katar, and what do we learn about her past that makes her actions more understandable?
I think the thornbush metaphor meant Katar is really prickly on the outside (like a thornbush) because she doesn't want people to see the other side of her (the hare inside). But no one likes a thornbush. I think if she'd just opened herself up a bit more, and not hid under a mask of meanness, more people would have appreciated her for who she really was. But I don't think she knew how. She said (on pg. 196), "Everything about this place is cold and hard and sharp and mean". As the mountain was all she never knew, and her father didn't care about her, she didn't know how to be kind. There was no example, as her mother was dead and none of the other girls were very nice to her. And she didn't realize that others might actually like her if she'd allow herself to be liked. She didn't know that the hare was to skinny to eat. This is my opinion. Anyone else have a different interpretation?
(July 4, 2009 - 2:53 pm)
Post people! And aren't we all done by now? Carli's supposed to choose the next book, but she hasn't posted in forever... We might have to skip her. And does anyone have a different interpretation from mine about Katar?
(July 8, 2009 - 3:55 pm)
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about. Maybe your edition has different discussion questions? But I think we should do a closing thing for this book. Does that sound good to everyone? Does anyone have any ideas? I was thinking we could kind of write what our favorite and least favorite qualities of it were, and what we can take away. What do you think?
(July 8, 2009 - 5:11 pm)