The Princess Diaries - Cabot, Meg

I’ve seen the movie, we’ve all seen the movie, except (obviously, I think) the book is so much better (no offense intended to Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, LOL, the movie was great.)

Amelia Thermopolis isn’t the popular girl, the nerdy girl, she isn’t even the artsy girl. Mia is just a regular kid with regular kid problems when her dad tells her that he is the prince of a small European country which makes her, Mia, the princess of Genovia. Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo can choose to stay in Manhattan and continue pretending to be a normal girl (not a princess) on the condition that she will take princess lessons from Grandmère (grandmother in french) in preparation of when she will ascend to the throne. Her father will also donate a hundred dollars a day to Greenpeace in her name if she agrees to the princess lessons. Mia, being the steadfast vegetarian she is, accepts because of that last part.

But being a princess isn’t as easy as they make it in the movies, and keeping your royal bloodline under wraps even harder. And on top of it all? Mia is having her first fight with her best friend, her mother is dating her algebra teacher (a subject she’s failing, by the way) and she hasn’t been asked out to the school’s diversity dance. Being a princess is hard, sure, but maybe being a teenager is even harder.

Despite the hoards of clichés, (see love triangle, mother dating a teacher, mean girl) I think this book is literature at its finest. I think in the future, when people will want to read about what life was like for teens in the 2000s, then they’ll read The Princess Diaries written by Meg Cabot. While people don’t learn everyday they are princess, Mia’s bubbly personality (well it’s bubbly in writing, at least) and her life experiences make her easy to relate to. On top of that, this book is hilarious, and tear-jerking at the same time, as most good books tend to be. Highly recommend, even if you’ve watched the movie, this book is a wonderful read.

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