Miri

Miri is the young heroine from the best-selling novel Princess Academy by Shannon Hale and its sequel Princess Academy: Palace of Stone.

Princess Academy
Fourteen-year-old Miri lives in Mount Eskel, a small village, and has never been allowed to work with the rest of the villagers in the quarry that keeps the community alive. As a result, Miri feels left out and cut off from the culture focused around a shared worling life in the quarry. All she wants to do is help; Miri loves her father, her sister, Marda, and is close friends with a boy named Peder.

One day, unexpectedly, a messenger from the king arrives and announces that the nation's priests informed the nation that, despide no education provided for the villagers and prejudice between the mountain villagers and the lowlanders, the crown prince's future bride will come from Miri's native community. A "princess academy" is set up near the village to train the village girls to be princesses. At the end of the year, the prince will visit the academy and choose one of the girls to be the next princess.

Under the watchful eye of their strict teacher, Tutor Olana, the girls study at the academy, struggling to appease her. Miri unexpectedly excels in her work, enduring punishments and Olana's rules. The girls are eager to please the prince and win a pleasant life for their families and themselves. Miri's new knowledge of commerce helps the village prosper in trading with the lowlanders. Using diplomacy, the girls negociate a more bearable living arrangement with Tutor Olana, including visits with their families. Miri befriends the other girls, including a lowlander named Britta. Her excellence in her studies and willingness to help her peers despite harsh competition earn her the title of the Academy Princess and the privelege of meeting the prince.

One day, Miri and the girls are ambushed by bandits who are led by their cruel and sadistic leader, Dan, and taken prisoner. The girls manage to escape, but Dan captures Miri and prepares to kill her when her father springs to the rescue. After a terrible fight, Dan falls to his death.

The girls are reunited with their families and the prince decides to marry Britta, a childhood friend. At the end of the story, Miri and Peder admit their feelings toward one another. She even dreams of founding a school in her village.

Trivia

 * According to the book, Miri is named after a small mountain flower.