Thursday, 23 July 2015

Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess by Meg Cabot (Children's, 9 years + 10E/10E)


 May 2015, MacMillan Children's Books, 192 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Content: major school & family drama,  becoming royal, feeling scared, lots of humour, tissues needed, 

Summary from Pan MacMillan
For twelve years, Olivia Grace has been completely ordinary. Then she discovers she's actually a princess, and her life is turned upside down! A fantastic illustrated Princess Diaries series for 8- to 12-year-olds.
 
Olivia Grace is completely average. Or so she thinks . . . until Her Royal Highness, Princess Mia Thermopolis turns up at her school one day and whisks Olivia away to New York City! In a limo, no less! Where you can eat all the cookies you want and the ceiling lights up pink and purple - like a disco! But discovering that your father is actually the Prince of Genovia is quite a shock. Especially since it means you're a descendent of the Kingdom of Genovia, and a princess. Olivia's got a lot to learn about her long-lost family - and everyone's got a lot to learn about her!

Olivia chronicles her transformation from ordinary girl to princess in her notebook, with illustrations from author Meg Cabot, who studied Fine Arts as an undergraduat

Nayu's thoughts
 This new series heavily linked to the original Princess Diaries books is exactly how I'd expected Princess Diaries to be! It is AWESOME! There's a lot less focus on boys, and more on just how insane life is for Mia's sister. Yes, you read correctly. Mia has a half-sister!!! Who is a middle grader, who is smart, who writes diary entries just like her big sister, and who gets into trouble only a smidge less than her older sister. 

Viewing Mia, Grandmere, and all the other characters I've come to know and love from Olivia Grace's view is refreshing, and I can't stress how eager I am for the next book in this series! It introduces younger readers to Princess Diaries, and when they get older they'll be able to follow Mia's story from the beginning (which will be a little backward since from the beginning is before her little siser is on the scene). I'm gazing longingly at the space book 2 will sit on my shelf - it can't come soon enough! 

Find out more on Meg's website. 

Available in many book stores including NRC affiliate Foyles.  

Suggested read 
Obviously check out Meg's other books, and you may like the Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell, the latest book being Dork Diaries Drama Queen (Children's, 9 years +, 9/10E)

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