User:Cstickel(byu)/sandbox:Palace of Stone

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.

Development
Hale originally intended for Princess Academy to be a stand-alone novel, but after it won a Newbery Honor in 2005, she began receiving letters from readers encouraging her to write a sequel. She wrote Palace of Stone without her publisher knowing; only her husband knew about the project. She was supposed to turn in a sci-fi novel to her publisher, but instead presented this follow-up to Princess Academy. Hale was hesitant to continue the story and interfere with what the readers themselves imagined happened afterwards, but became convinced she had to write the story after she developed the idea of a revolution.

Plot
Miri is back home on Mount Eskel with her Pa and sister, Marda. She has received letters from Katar and Britta, who are now living in the capital of Danland, Asland. Both have asked Miri and the other girls who attended the Princess Academy to stay at the royal palace for a year and attend Britta's wedding to the prince. Peder has also been offered an apprenticeship with a stone carver in Asland. Miri travels to the capital with traders, Peder, and five other academy girls. Once they arrive, they witness an attempt on the king's life by a man representing "the shoeless." Miri learns from Katar that those who are shoeless are the poorest of the commoners. Katar asks Miri to investigate into this revolution that the shoeless have begun because of their hunger.

Miri begins her studies as a scholar at the Queen's Castle, where she meets a boy named Timon. She simultaneously begins to feel distanced from Peder as he devotes himself to his apprenticeship and she to her studies. Timon brings Miri to a group of people who are dedicated to educating the shoeless, so that they will be able to succeed in reforming Danland's political system. When they discover the king has claimed more goods for himself in tribute, Timon begins a protest, and Miri joins in. It does not work, and Miri grows worried that the king will demand tribute from Mount Eskel - which will leave them destitute. She joins the group to visit the poor, but officials arrive at their meeting place, so Timon and Miri flee. He then expresses his feelings for her, and Miri becomes conflicted between her feelings for Peder and Timon's promise of new adventures. Miri also feels conflicted between her sympathy for the shoeless and her friendship with Britta as the revolution grows and more protests occur.

Katar tells Miri that the king has decided to demand tribute from Mount Eskel. Timon releases a leaflet with an excerpt from Miri's essay telling the story of how Britta was not a commoner from Mount Eskel at the time of the princess academy, but the daughter of a noble lowlander - a fact Britta told Miri in confidence. More than ever, Miri feels torn between supporting the revolution and her desire for Britta's happiness as princess of Danland. Britta's wedding begins, and Miri dances with both Timon and Peder at the bridal ball. The next morning, they travel to the chapel, but are met with protestors; when the king discovers that Miri knows some of the revolutionaries, he throws her out of the palace. Miri finds Timon and the revolutionary group, but finds that they have begun to demand blood and have even hired an assassin to kill Britta. However, when a mob threatens to kill her, Britta saves a little boy from spooked horses, which changes the protestors' minds about her. Shoeless bandits seize Britta, but Miri and the other Eskelites use quarry-speech to crack the linder stone under the bandit and save Britta. Miri discovers that the royal family is capable of a different kind of quarry-speech. Then the assassin finds them, and Peder is shot while protecting Miri and Britta. Miri quarry-speaks and causes the ceiling to crush the assassin. She then goes to Peder's side, telling him she loves him and quarry-speaking their shared memories. But he survives, Britta and Steffan marry, and peace ensues. Miri runs into Timon, who promises a stronger revival of the revolution. But Miri and the girls enlist the help of the queen and propose a charter - one that would give rights to the shoeless - to the delegates of Danland, who unanimously approve. Miri and Peder decide to become engaged once they arrive home in the fall. Miri decides to return home to Mount Eskel, but to come back to Asland in the future as well.

Reception
In September 2012, Palace of Stone appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for children's chapter books. Publishers Weekly called it "a fine follow-up to a novel that already felt complete." In Voice of Youth Advocates, the novel was dubbed "a worthy and complex continuation of Miri's story," and was named one of VOYA's Perfect Tens of 2012. Anne O'Malley, in a Booklist review, stated: "this lively, provocative tale about political change and justice works better as a sequel than a stand-alone." Of Palace of Stone, Kirkus Reviews said: "The first half of the tale is a little slow and full of set-up, but the second half ... is powerful and deeply engaging."

Awards

 * The New York Times Best Seller
 * A VOYA Perfect Ten
 * A Publishers Weekly Top 25 Children's Frontlist Fiction
 * A Publishers Weekly "Children's galleys to grab"