The Princess Diaries

Title: The Princess Diaries
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Thorndike Press
ISBN: 078624058X

Recommended for Grades 9-12
Genre: Fiction-Chick Lit

Reader’s Annotation:
Mia is an ordinary girl, with ordinary problems. Well they were ordinary, until she found out that she's a princess.

Plot Summary:
Mia Thermopolis has spent her life with her mom in New York thinking that she is just an ordinary teenager. She's not the most popular girl, she is struggling with algebra and hangs out with her friends after school. When her father, who lives in Europe, calls to tell her he has cancer and will not be able to have any more kids, she thinks nothing of it. When she learns he is the Prince of Genovia, she doesn't think that will effect her life. But when she learns she is his only heir, things become clear. She is now the Princess of Genovia. Mia must now balance school with princess lessons from her grandma and spending time with friends. She also has to figure out who her true friends are and who just wants to be friends because she is a princess. Mia learns that being a princess is not the happy ending that fairy tales lead you to believe.

Evaluation:
Rather than giving the traditional idealistic story of becoming a princess and living happily ever, Mia shows the difficult and full time job that being a princess can be.

Notes:
There are thirteen other books in the Princess Diaries series:
The Princess Diaries, Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight
The Princess Diaries, Volume III: Princess in Love
The Princess Diaries, Volume IV: Princess in Waiting
The Princess Diaries, Volume VII and 3/4: Valentine Princess
The Princess Diaries, Volume IV and 1/2: Project Princess
The Princess Diaries, Volume V: Princess in Pink
The Princess Diaries, Volume VI: Princess in Training
The Princess Diaries, Volume VI and 1/2: The Princess Present
The Princess Diaries, Volume VII: Party Princess
The Princess Diaries, Volume VII and 1/2: Sweet Sixteen Princess
The Princess Diaries, Volume VIII: Princess on the Brink
The Princess Diaries, Volume IX: Princess Mia
The Princess Diaries, Volume X: Forever Princess

In 2000 Walt Disney Pictures released a film adaptation of The Princess Diaries.