Princess in Love (Princess Diaries Series #3)

Amazon.com
It would seem that 14-year-old Mia Thermopolis ("five foot nine inches tall, with no visible breasts, feet the size of snowshoes") has the kind of life every Manhattan teenager could only dream of: She is, in her spare time, the princess of the European country of Genovia. Alas, the Royal Privilege is more like a Predicament. Not only does she have to endure daily princess lessons from her critical Grandmère ("It isn't as if I'm going to show up at the castle and start hurling olives at the ladies-in-waiting"), but her new stepfather is also her algebra teacher, her mother is pregnant and vomiting, she doesn't like her boyfriend very much, and she's convinced the real love of her life--her best friend's older brother--thinks of her as a kid.

Written in diary form like Louise Rennison's award-winning Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, Meg Cabot's endearing and often hilarious novel Princess in Love--third in the series after The Princess Diaries and Princess in the Spotlight--is sure to appeal to teen readers who will be able to relate to Mia--a young woman who would like people to know that "behind this mutant facade beats the heart of a person who is striving, just like everybody else in this world, to find self-actualization." (Ages 12 and older) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
Her Royal Highness Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia, also known as Mia, prepares to meet the populace of her newfound kingdom all while trying to dump one boyfriend for another in Princess in Love, the third in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-Teenage angst rears its head with a vengeance in the third title in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot (HarperCollins, 2002). Despite her royal heritage, high school student Mia Thermopolis suffers from terminally bad hair days, anxiety over why she doesn't find kissing nearly as enticing as her boyfriend Kenny does, and the torture of a never-ending series of royal etiquette lessons conducted by her imperious Grandmere. And what about Mia's true love, Michael, a senior and the brother of her best friend? Is he in love with his brainy science project partner, and how can Mia compete with a girl who can clone fruit flies? Although Anne Hathaway's narration seems a bit stilted during the first few chapters, it picks up speed as she assumes Mia's character and mannerisms, resulting in a listening delight. With breathy speech that is a perfect mimic of "Valley Girl-speak," Hathaway proves herself more than capable of entering into the mind, heart, and soul of a princess in love.Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OHCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Welcome to the fairy tale world of THE PRINCESS DIARIES. In Volume III, Mia is simultaneously involved in all the December activities at Albert Einstein High School and preparing to travel to Genovia for her introduction to the populace as their princess. Finals, boyfriends, unrequited love, dress fittings, princess lessons, speech preparations, and the Nondenominational Winter Dance are but a few of the activities that fill Mia's days and nights. In the movie and in the recording, Anne Hathaway is the newly discovered Princess of Genovia, Mia Thermopolis. She portrays the teenager in such a genuine manner it is hard to consider Princess Mia beyond belief. Here is a poignant and sassy view of teenaged life. A.R. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. Fans of the first two installments of The Princess Diaries will be just as delighted with this new volume. Mia's voice is as strong as ever and the story line is more satisfying than the plot of Princess in the Spotlight. The diary picks up with a blow-by-blow account of Mia's two Thanksgiving celebrations and concludes with a jubilant entry written aboard the Royal Genovian jet on December 20. In between, readers will be captivated by two weeks' worth of Mia's fretting about her upcoming algebra final, her presentation to the Genovian people, and Kenny's tardiness in inviting her to the Albert Einstein High School Nondenominational Winter Dance. She also obsesses about Michael's relationship with his brilliant lab partner and gets even with her grandmother and an enterprising fashion designer. It's a good thing three more volumes of the diary are forthcoming, because Cabot has secured Mia's position as teen readers' new best friend. Chris Sherman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Princess Mia may seem like the luckiest girl ever.

But the truth is, Mia spends all her time doing one of three things: preparing for her nerve-racking entrÉe into Genovian society, slogging through the congestion unique to Manhattan in December, and avoiding further smooching from her hapless boyfriend, Kenny.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Meg Cabot continues the hilarious adventures of Mia Thermopolis, a very ordinary teenager whose life takes an extraordinary turn when she learns she's the heir apparent to the throne of a small European country. In this third installment of The Princess Diaries, Mia's self-deprecating wit, self-absorption, and adolescent angst are as entertaining as ever as she struggles with the realization that despite being a princess, she isn't guaranteed any fairy-tale endings.

Mia discovers yet another branch on the royal side of her family tree when she meets her cousin, Sebastiano, an up-and-coming fashion designer. Mia worries that Sebastiano might want her dead, since he's next in line to inherit the throne, she's not yet willing to toss him aside -- his dress creations are not only exquisite, they are perfectly tailored to bring out the best in Mia's flat-chested, big-footed physique. Life is looking better on other fronts as well, for Mia finally has a boyfriend. Unfortunately, it's Kenny, her study partner, good friend, and fellow classmate, whereas the real love of her life is Michael, the brother of Mia's best friend, Lilly. But not only does Michael seem clueless about Mia's affections; it looks like he has a girlfriend.

While bemoaning her inability to compete for Michael's affections, Mia spends her time trying to avoid Kenny's kisses, pondering the best way to break up with him even as she wonders why he hasn't asked her to the big Christmas dance. Adding to Mia's stresses are her upcoming final exams, her mother's incessant morning sickness, the usual unwanted media attention, and the ongoing torments of her fellow classmate and nemesis, Lana.

While Mia's sometimes simplistic view of life remains intact and her adolescent shallowness is often apparent, she also shows an evolving maturity as she prepares for her royal role under Grandmere's overbearing guidance. But never fear, the seriousness is kept in balance with plenty of fun, tons of laughs, and several amusing disasters. And, if Mia isn't careful, she might even get that fairy-tale ending. (Beth Amos)

ANNOTATION

In a series of humorous diary entries, a New York City ninth grader agonizes over her love life, final exams, and future role as the princess of Genovia.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo may seem the luckiest girl ever.

She's a princess, for starters. She also lives in New York City. And while she's no supermodel, mirrors do not crack at her reflection. Best of all, she finally has a boyfriend.

The truth is, however, that Mia spends all her time doing one of three things: preparing for her nerve-racking entrÉe into Genovian society under the slave-driving but elegant GrandmÉre, slogging through congestion unique to Manhattan in December, and avoiding further smooches from her hapless boyfriend, Kenny.

All she wants is a little peace and quiet...and a certain someone else to be her boyfriend. For Mia, being a princess in love is not the fairy tale it's supposed to be...or is it?

About the Author

Meg Cabot is the author of the best-selling, critically acclaimed, immensely popular Princess Diaries novels, as well as All-American Girl, Haunted, and two Regency novels, Nicola and the Viscount and Victoria and the Rogue. Meg was born in Bloomington, Indiana, and her childhood was spent in pursuit of air conditioning, of which there was little at the time in southern Indiana. A primary source proved to be the Monroe County Public Library, where Meg whiled away many hours, reading the complete works of Jane Austen, Judy Blume, and Barbara Cartland.

Armed with a fine arts degree from Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City, intent upon pursuing a career in freelance illustration. Illustrating, however, soon got in the way of Meg's true love, writing, and so she abandoned it and got a job as the assistant manager of anundergraduate dormitory at New York University, writing on the weekends, and whenever her boss wasn't looking.

Meg lives in New York City with her husband, Benjamin, a poet, financial market writer and fellow Hoosier, and their one-eyed cat, Henrietta.

SYNOPSIS

Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo may seem the luckiest girl ever.

She's a princess, for starters. She also lives in New York City. And while she's no supermodel, mirrors do not crack at her reflection. Best of all, she finally has a boyfriend.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Her Royal Highness Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia, also known as Mia, prepares to meet the populace of her newfound kingdom all while trying to dump one boyfriend for another in Princess in Love, the third in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Judy Chernak

The erstwhile princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, previously known￯﾿ﾽbefore that unfortunate communication from her unknown-but-true grandmother the queen of Genovia￯﾿ﾽas just plain (very plain) New York schoolgirl Mia, continues her life, as it was and as it now must be. If that sentence exhausts you, you are now prepared to slide breathlessly through the pages of this third chapter in Mia's life, experiencing with her all the ups and downs of a barely-attractive klutz with weird friends, a boyfriend she doesn't want, a boy she wants as a boyfriend, embarrassments in school exceeded only by etiquette goofs with Grandm￯﾿ﾽre the Queen, zits, kisses wanted and spurned, and all the other intricacies of adolescence compounded by her upcoming introduction into Genovian society. Believe me, the movie was only the beginning of this romp. Here's where you'll get all the yearned-for details. Teen-aged girls will love this book in its Passion Pink, crown-adorned dust jacket￯﾿ﾽit's just the ticket for keeping their dreams while cutting the strings from their Barbies. 2002, HarperCollins,

VOYA - Nancy Zachary

Readers will be delighted that charming Princess Mia is back, filling their heads with her frank inner monologue about high school romance, classwork, and the pressures of being a teen in this third installment of The Princess Diaries. She continues her story in diary format from the essay assignment about Thanksgiving until she leaves for Genovia for the Christmas holiday. Mia's open dialogue and activities are the material of girls' fantasies of becoming a real-life princess. The politically correct agenda she readily supports is proper and endearing, and those readers taken with fashion will appreciate her commentary declaring tangerine the new gray or white becoming the new black. This third volume is about boyfriends, kissing, stalking, anonymous notes, and Grandm￯﾿ﾽre's love advice. The familiar cast of characters￯﾿ﾽbest friend, Lilly, and her brother, Michael; Mom and Mr. G.; bodyguard Lars; Kenny; and Fat Louie￯﾿ﾽis back, creating an immediate intimacy with the reader. The twists and turns of the plot take a heartwarming roller coaster ride for the heir to the throne of her father's small Mediterranean country. Although Mia successfully has commanded attention on the silver screen, teens will find the readable princess more personal and sophisticated, a treasure for middle school girls. PLB

KLIATT

Princess Mia is back, still struggling with life as a freshman at Albert Einstein High School and her crush on her best friend's older brother—not to mention the responsibility of being the heir to the throne of Genovia, a small European country. Her trials and tribulations in this latest outing include her mother's pregnancy (she's now married to Mia's algebra teacher), princess lessons from her imperious and scary Grandmère, and her boyfriend Kenny, who is wild about her though she isn't wild about him. Told in diary entries, à la Bridget Jones, Mia's hilarious account will delight middle school, junior high and even high school girls. Last year's Disney movie, The Princess Diaries, will increase interest in this new volume in the series. Enough is recapped so that new readers can pick the series up with this title. Here's hoping there are many more to come. My 14-year-old daughter gobbled this up in an evening. A great choice for reluctant readers. (The Princess Diaries, Vol. III) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2002, HarperCollins, 236p., $15.89. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; KLIATT SOURCE: KLIATT, March 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

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