I'M HOOKED!

The Princess Diaries

by Meg Cabot

2000

238 pages

Summery from Goodreads:

Mia Thermopolis is your average urban ninth grader. Even though she lives in Greenwich Village with a single mom who is a semifamous painter, Mia still puts on her Doc Martens one at a time, and the most exciting things she ever dreams about are smacking lips with sexy senior Josh Richter, "six feet of unadulterated hotness," and passing Algebra I. Then Mia's dad comes to town, and drops a major bomb. Turns out he's not just a European politician as he's always lead her to believe, but actually the prince of a small country! And Mia, his only heir, is now considered the crown princess of Genovia! She doesn't even know how to begin to cope: "I am so NOT a princess.... You never saw anyone who looked less like a princess than I do. I mean, I have really bad hair... and... a really big mouth and no breasts and feet that look like skis." And if this news wasn't bad enough, Mia's mom has started dating her algebra teacher, the paparazzi is showing up at school, and she's in a huge fight with her best friend, Lilly. How much more can this reluctant Cinderella handle?

My Thoughts:

Mia is an ordinary, average looking girl just trying to navigate to tricky world of high school.

She's crushing on a cute guy who doesn't know she's alive.

Her mom is dating one of her teachers.

AND she's in a huge fight with her best friend.

Then the bombshell-Her dad is the prince of Genovia and he can't have anymore kids. Mia is actually a princess and her life is about to change in a very big way.

I loved that this book was in diary form. It immediately puts you, the reader in Mia's head. We have a front row seat on this wacky, crazy ride. Mia is a great character, who I think teenage girls could easily relate to. She's insecure, stressed out about her math grades and just hoping the hot guy with a locker next to hers will notice that she's alive. There's humor and heart in the story. And I got a giant kick out of grandmere who drinks sidecars and tries to teach a reluctant Mia how to be a princess.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read the next installment of The Princess Diaries: Princess in the Spotlight. I'm hooked!

This book is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library. I recommend it for readers 12 and up.