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Pennyroyal Academy Audiobook
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Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights….Come one, come all!
A girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name “Evie,” she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.
Set in Grimm’s fairytale world, M.A. Larson’s Pennyroyal Academy masterfully combines adventure, humor, and magical mischief.
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“In a crisp, stately, British voice,Susan Duerden introduces plucky heroine Evie, who is one of many answering thecall to train as princesses and knights at the Pennyroyal Academy. As theaction begins, Duerden plunges right into the mix, giving the wood witch asweet voice edged with menace and a truly hair-raising cackle. Duerden equipseach character with qualities suited to his or her persona. The fairy drillsergeant barks out commands like a marine, the upper-class trainees dripsarcasm and resentment, and the only male princess trainee, Basil, islaugh-out-loud funny as he bemoans his mother’s wish for a daughter afterhaving twenty-seven sons.”
— AudioFile
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“M. A. Larson has created a magical world of adventure—a world that shows who princesses truly are: people of character and courage and strength. No one rescues Pennyroyal princesses; they rescue themselves.”
— Reese Witherspoon -
“Comparison to the Harry Potter series seems inevitable…Pennyroyal Academy is worthy of the matchup—it’s ridiculously compelling, and I hope it’s followed by several sequels…Evie…is a complex character who deals with the twists thrown at her with wit, style, and bravery…Pennyroyal Academy is one of those books you want to parse out and make last. It is a breathtakingly exciting novel, and Evie deserves a special place in a new pantheon of capable, feisty, and, yes, admirable literary princesses.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“First-time author Larson, a film and TV writer, uses strikingly crisp imagery to tell a coming-of-age story rounded out with a gaggle of fast-won friends who provide support and comic relief…The author playfully nods to classic fairy tales, incorporating a Frog Prince, a witchy stepmother, and a jealous stepsister tearing a ball gown to tatters, but he also imbues the fantasy with an important, affirming message for readers: ‘You get to decide what you want to be. No one else.’”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Fantasy readers will indubitably relish the magical kingdom’s fearsome witches and dragons, set in an enchanted landscape of pitfalls and beauties. The assigned challenges add a perilous element that advances the story’s pacing.”
— School Library Journal -
“Flashes of inspiration light up a protagonist with plenty of spine…A sequel-worthy debut.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Forget the notion of traditional princesses…Larson has crafted a dark Grimm-like fairy tale, with teens training to defeat evil, save villages, and find their own identities in the process…Larson has left the door open for a welcome second year at Pennyroyal with Evie and her friends.”
— Booklist -
“A perfect fit for fans of Hale’s Princess Academy and the novels of Gail Carson Levine.”
— Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
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About M. A. Larson
M. A. Larson is a film and television writer who lives with his wife, daughter, and two dogs in a canyon in California. Larson has written for Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney UK, Discovery Kids Channel, The Hub, and Nickelodeon. As a writer on the cult sensation My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, he has been a guest at “brony” fan conventions from Paris to Dallas.
About Susan Duerden
Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London’s West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC’s Lost.