"Princess Academy"

(This is the first "book review" post I'm making, so I'm experimenting with Amazon links. Hopefully they won't be too messed up.)

The book I just finished is The Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale.

• Type: Children's Fantasy (Ages 10 and up? I'm not an expert.)
  
• Rating: G (some violence, nothing graphic)
• Target Gender: F (It's about girls and for girls, but not so mushy that I couldn't read it)
  

It's a children's book, I'd guess targeted at the same age range as the Harry Potter books.

Basically, a prophecy reveals that the new queen of the kingdom must come from a very poor village on the outskirts, so all the girls in the village are dragged off to princess school. :) It's a good premise, and it leads to a well-written and original story. The setting is well fleshed out, with an interesting mix of characters.

Avoid the Amazon reviews if you can; as usual, one of them winds up revealing the "final twist", although the book was still a good read with that spoiled.

I'd recommend it.