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From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess #1
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess
Olivia Grace Clarisse Harrison has always known she was different. Brought up by her aunt's family in New Jersey, book-and-music-loving Olivia feels out of place in their life of high fashion and fancy cars. But she never could have imagined how out of place she really was until Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, pops into her school and announces that Olivia is her long-lost sister. Olivia is a princess. A dream come true, right? But princesses have problems too.
In FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS a new middle grade series, readers will see Genovia, this time through the illustrated diaries of a spunky new heroine, 12 year old Olivia Grace, who happens to be the long lost half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis.
The original Princess Diaries series sold over 5 million copies in the US (15 million worldwide), spent 82 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list, and inspired two beloved films.
In FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS a new middle grade series, readers will see Genovia, this time through the illustrated diaries of a spunky new heroine, 12 year old Olivia Grace, who happens to be the long lost half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis.
The original Princess Diaries series sold over 5 million copies in the US (15 million worldwide), spent 82 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list, and inspired two beloved films.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2015
201 people are currently reading
4421 people want to read
About the author
Meg Cabot
279 books35.4k followersLibrarian note: AKA Jenny Carroll (1-800-Where-R-You series), AKA Patricia Cabot (historical romance novels).
Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse -- at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby--writing novels--for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.
She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy's Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.
Meg is now writing a new children's series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011.
Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him.
Series:
* Airhead
* The Princess Diaries
* Mediator
Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse -- at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby--writing novels--for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.
She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy's Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.
Meg is now writing a new children's series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011.
Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him.
Series:
* Airhead
* The Princess Diaries
* Mediator
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November 9, 20151. The existence alone of this book makes me incredibly giddy.
2. This book is thoroughly ridiculous and barely constitutes a full narrative.
3. I don't care in the slightest. It's awesome.
2. This book is thoroughly ridiculous and barely constitutes a full narrative.
3. I don't care in the slightest. It's awesome.
December 31, 2015
Also reviewed on Sophie Reads YA
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is no way impacted in my view.
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess tells the story of Olivia, a normal twelve year old who is just dealing school, her family, and her friends. However, she finds out, quite dramatically, that she is actually a princess, the daughter of the Prince of Genovia. Olivia is a princess!
I really loved being thrust back into the Princess Diaries world. I remember reading that series when I was younger, and as soon as I saw Meg Cabot was delving back into the world, from the PoV of a new character, I knew I had to read it! I was so happy when I saw I was approved on NetGalley for an eARC.
Though I don't normally read children's books - I tend to read more YA (that's why the blog is called Sophie Reads YA) - I really enjoyed how sweet Olivia was as a protagonist, and how innocent her character was. Meeting old characters from the Princess Diaries world, particularly Mia, was amazing, and the interactions of Olivia with her newly found family was everything I could ask for. I can't wait to see how their family dynamic continues to grow as the series progresses, as the family begin to become a proper family, and I hope that Olivia will be part of Cabot's upcoming book, Royal Wedding.
The book was quite short, just under 200 pages, but I felt the story progressed at a steady pace, perfect for readers of the intended audience. The story line was quite inventive, you could obviously tell that it was a first book in the series, as there was a lot of setting the scene and introducing the characters, but I definitely felt that the potential for really great story lines have been set up for future installments.
After reading this book I realised I definitely need to re-read the Princess Diaries series, which I hope to do this summer to prepare for Royal Wedding, but I'm really looking forward to reading further books in this series.
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is no way impacted in my view.
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess tells the story of Olivia, a normal twelve year old who is just dealing school, her family, and her friends. However, she finds out, quite dramatically, that she is actually a princess, the daughter of the Prince of Genovia. Olivia is a princess!
I really loved being thrust back into the Princess Diaries world. I remember reading that series when I was younger, and as soon as I saw Meg Cabot was delving back into the world, from the PoV of a new character, I knew I had to read it! I was so happy when I saw I was approved on NetGalley for an eARC.
Though I don't normally read children's books - I tend to read more YA (that's why the blog is called Sophie Reads YA) - I really enjoyed how sweet Olivia was as a protagonist, and how innocent her character was. Meeting old characters from the Princess Diaries world, particularly Mia, was amazing, and the interactions of Olivia with her newly found family was everything I could ask for. I can't wait to see how their family dynamic continues to grow as the series progresses, as the family begin to become a proper family, and I hope that Olivia will be part of Cabot's upcoming book, Royal Wedding.
The book was quite short, just under 200 pages, but I felt the story progressed at a steady pace, perfect for readers of the intended audience. The story line was quite inventive, you could obviously tell that it was a first book in the series, as there was a lot of setting the scene and introducing the characters, but I definitely felt that the potential for really great story lines have been set up for future installments.
After reading this book I realised I definitely need to re-read the Princess Diaries series, which I hope to do this summer to prepare for Royal Wedding, but I'm really looking forward to reading further books in this series.
January 23, 2019
1.) The Princess Diaries ★★★★
2.) Princess in the Spotlight ★★★★
3.) Princess in Love ★★★★
4.) Princess in Waiting ★★★★
4.1.) Princess Lessons ★★★★
4.5.) Project Princess ★★★★
5.) Princess in Pink ★★★★★
6.) Princess in Training ★★★
7.) Party Princess ★★★★
8.) Princess on the Brink ★★★★
9.) Princess Mia ★★★★
10.) Forever Princess ★★★★★
11.) Royal Wedding ★★★★★
2.) Princess in the Spotlight ★★★★
3.) Princess in Love ★★★★
4.) Princess in Waiting ★★★★
4.1.) Princess Lessons ★★★★
4.5.) Project Princess ★★★★
5.) Princess in Pink ★★★★★
6.) Princess in Training ★★★
7.) Party Princess ★★★★
8.) Princess on the Brink ★★★★
9.) Princess Mia ★★★★
10.) Forever Princess ★★★★★
11.) Royal Wedding ★★★★★
June 18, 2015
Like half the reviewers here, I'm really the wrong audience for the book, as a grown Princess-Diaries fan. The book is aimed at 7-8 year olds, and not being one, I can't tell you if an 8 year old would like this book. Probably. If you are reading this review, you probably aren't the intended audience either.
This book fills the niche of movie-goers who would have loved to check out the book based on the G-rated movie, but would have to ask mom what a diaphragm is, what's a foot fetish, what happened in all these R-rated movies Mia references, and why Mia's teacher is boxer shorts at their loft over breakfast.
The premise is that apparently sometime before his bout with testicular cancer, Mia's dad kept mum about another illegitimate kid, at the mother's request, and then she died, keeping the secret under wraps. Meanwhile, Phillipe's been in postcard contact and the kid has the family name. She's been kept in the dark because living in the spotlight is an "inappropriate upbringing" (ostensibly avoiding the paps, but Phillipe also has a large number of girlfriends....)
Olivia is just two years younger than 14-year old Mia, but the books are aiming for the third grade demographic, not the ninth grade one, so the books are scrubbed of pop culture references, jokes about New York City, things that go over Mia's head, but not ours, snark, and the idea that somebody might not want to be a princess, or get a makeover, or approve of the 1% (even though Mia, Lilly, and Tina were all part of it). About the most timely thing in the books is the use of cell phones, texting, a mention of Harry Potter,and fake gluten allergies, but that's probably not a bad thing. The books have a gee-whiz feel to them, and while the YA series, Frozen, and books like Princess Academy all try to subvert the princess-industrial complex to varying degrees, this book really doesn't. For example, Mia shits on the Disney movies in book 6 (one of the awesomely rare occurrences where a book is self-aware), but Olivia says here her cousin loves both of them (Even #2? Oof.) Then again, these books are for the movie audience.
The catalyst for Olivia's outing so to speak is her family's move to a fake small middle eastern country that doesn't treat young ladies all that well, and the crown's discovery that Olivia's family spent her child support money on themselves. Mia just shows up one day and the kid hops in the limo to meet dad and Grand-mère.
A few of the other reviewers mentioned that Olivia is half-black, and as they said, this fact is just there, not examined, and doesn't really inform or change the story in any way. Then again, given the possible ways this could go (racism, stereotypes), I'm not sure I want it to. Representation is good, but it was just window dressing. You could have global replaced "African-American" with "Asian-American", redrawn the pictures, edited the physical character description and it would have been the same story. That's the same with a lot of things in the books, and I think ultimately the source of my frustration with the novella.
Several examples: Olivia lives in New Jersey, and Grand-mère doesn't think highly of it, but that's about it. I'm not from there, so maybe I missed other cultural references, but Olivia could have lived in Connecticut, or Poughkeepsie and no one would have been any the wiser. Similarly, Mia wasn't recognizable as the character of the books, just a well-dressed, kindly grown-up (she reduced the severity of Olivia's makeover and mentions she has a diary, but that's it). Tina was mentioned as a lady-in-waiting, but again, there was nothing recognizable, just a lender of cell phones. I don't know if I necessarily wanted their characters reduced to combat boots, vegetarianism and romance novels. I understand the need to give Olivia center stage, that kids don't really peg grown-ups as people with personalities, that the point is not to see Mia through someone else's eyes, but there was just nothing there. As a grown fan hoping for some Easter eggs, I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted a mention of Mia's half-brother Rocky, would should be just a little younger than Olivia. That's what the Royal Wedding book is for, I guess.
Olivia herself is pretty bland, perhaps that's because she's a kid, or so kids can imprint on her. She is talented with drawing and dogs (Rommel, who I thought should be old enough to be dead at this point, seems to like her), and (to her credit) Olivia is happier to meet family than to be a royal. She has yet to understand Grand-mère is a bit evil.
After some bullying that's more physical and less psychological, Mia, Grand-mère, Phillipe, Michael (who again is just there) ditch the states and head to Genovia, which has oranges.
I am curious what the next installment is going to be like, if it focuses on palace adventures, self-actualization lessons learned, perhaps mystery solving or if it's going to be princess lifestyle gawking porn (that will get old, fast). It would be cool to see some sort of culture shock, and struggle with going to school in a different language.
With the short-ish length of the book, it should be straight-forward for Meg Cabot to pump several of these volumes out before her audience gets too old for this sort of thing. Hopefully the newer volumes will get to developing the characters, now that the backstory is out of the way.
This book fills the niche of movie-goers who would have loved to check out the book based on the G-rated movie, but would have to ask mom what a diaphragm is, what's a foot fetish, what happened in all these R-rated movies Mia references, and why Mia's teacher is boxer shorts at their loft over breakfast.
The premise is that apparently sometime before his bout with testicular cancer, Mia's dad kept mum about another illegitimate kid, at the mother's request, and then she died, keeping the secret under wraps. Meanwhile, Phillipe's been in postcard contact and the kid has the family name. She's been kept in the dark because living in the spotlight is an "inappropriate upbringing" (ostensibly avoiding the paps, but Phillipe also has a large number of girlfriends....)
Olivia is just two years younger than 14-year old Mia, but the books are aiming for the third grade demographic, not the ninth grade one, so the books are scrubbed of pop culture references, jokes about New York City, things that go over Mia's head, but not ours, snark, and the idea that somebody might not want to be a princess, or get a makeover, or approve of the 1% (even though Mia, Lilly, and Tina were all part of it). About the most timely thing in the books is the use of cell phones, texting, a mention of Harry Potter,and fake gluten allergies, but that's probably not a bad thing. The books have a gee-whiz feel to them, and while the YA series, Frozen, and books like Princess Academy all try to subvert the princess-industrial complex to varying degrees, this book really doesn't. For example, Mia shits on the Disney movies in book 6 (one of the awesomely rare occurrences where a book is self-aware), but Olivia says here her cousin loves both of them (Even #2? Oof.) Then again, these books are for the movie audience.
The catalyst for Olivia's outing so to speak is her family's move to a fake small middle eastern country that doesn't treat young ladies all that well, and the crown's discovery that Olivia's family spent her child support money on themselves. Mia just shows up one day and the kid hops in the limo to meet dad and Grand-mère.
A few of the other reviewers mentioned that Olivia is half-black, and as they said, this fact is just there, not examined, and doesn't really inform or change the story in any way. Then again, given the possible ways this could go (racism, stereotypes), I'm not sure I want it to. Representation is good, but it was just window dressing. You could have global replaced "African-American" with "Asian-American", redrawn the pictures, edited the physical character description and it would have been the same story. That's the same with a lot of things in the books, and I think ultimately the source of my frustration with the novella.
Several examples: Olivia lives in New Jersey, and Grand-mère doesn't think highly of it, but that's about it. I'm not from there, so maybe I missed other cultural references, but Olivia could have lived in Connecticut, or Poughkeepsie and no one would have been any the wiser. Similarly, Mia wasn't recognizable as the character of the books, just a well-dressed, kindly grown-up (she reduced the severity of Olivia's makeover and mentions she has a diary, but that's it). Tina was mentioned as a lady-in-waiting, but again, there was nothing recognizable, just a lender of cell phones. I don't know if I necessarily wanted their characters reduced to combat boots, vegetarianism and romance novels. I understand the need to give Olivia center stage, that kids don't really peg grown-ups as people with personalities, that the point is not to see Mia through someone else's eyes, but there was just nothing there. As a grown fan hoping for some Easter eggs, I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted a mention of Mia's half-brother Rocky, would should be just a little younger than Olivia. That's what the Royal Wedding book is for, I guess.
Olivia herself is pretty bland, perhaps that's because she's a kid, or so kids can imprint on her. She is talented with drawing and dogs (Rommel, who I thought should be old enough to be dead at this point, seems to like her), and (to her credit) Olivia is happier to meet family than to be a royal. She has yet to understand Grand-mère is a bit evil.
After some bullying that's more physical and less psychological, Mia, Grand-mère, Phillipe, Michael (who again is just there) ditch the states and head to Genovia, which has oranges.
I am curious what the next installment is going to be like, if it focuses on palace adventures, self-actualization lessons learned, perhaps mystery solving or if it's going to be princess lifestyle gawking porn (that will get old, fast). It would be cool to see some sort of culture shock, and struggle with going to school in a different language.
With the short-ish length of the book, it should be straight-forward for Meg Cabot to pump several of these volumes out before her audience gets too old for this sort of thing. Hopefully the newer volumes will get to developing the characters, now that the backstory is out of the way.
June 18, 2015
A cute middle grade companion to the PRINCESS DIARIES books, specifically, to the last book, ROYAL WEDDING. (Which is interesting when you consider that that book is very adult, this one, middle grade.)
We get to know Olivia Grace, Princess Mia's secret half-sister, a little better, and see things from her point of view, complete with drawings, since she wants to be an artist. I don't think that this would stand alone very well, since some things are never explained and they don't get too into her background. Her relatives that raised her are kind of horrible, and the explanation of why is very quick, for instance. Since I've already read ROYAL WEDDING, I knew the situation and was fine with it. But if I was a kid and only reading this one, I'd be like, "That's it?" Also, some of the stuff is not as funny if you don't know Mia, i.e. Olivia Grace thinks the two girls in the car with her and Mia are Mia's royal ladies-in-waiting. This is hilarious because they are actually her extremely feminist best friends. But this isn't explained in this book, nor are they given names, things like that. But Olivia Grace is very cute, and very different from Mia, and it's really interesting to see Grandmere and Phillippe from her point of view. And I loved the drawings, which are done by Meg Cabot!
We get to know Olivia Grace, Princess Mia's secret half-sister, a little better, and see things from her point of view, complete with drawings, since she wants to be an artist. I don't think that this would stand alone very well, since some things are never explained and they don't get too into her background. Her relatives that raised her are kind of horrible, and the explanation of why is very quick, for instance. Since I've already read ROYAL WEDDING, I knew the situation and was fine with it. But if I was a kid and only reading this one, I'd be like, "That's it?" Also, some of the stuff is not as funny if you don't know Mia, i.e. Olivia Grace thinks the two girls in the car with her and Mia are Mia's royal ladies-in-waiting. This is hilarious because they are actually her extremely feminist best friends. But this isn't explained in this book, nor are they given names, things like that. But Olivia Grace is very cute, and very different from Mia, and it's really interesting to see Grandmere and Phillippe from her point of view. And I loved the drawings, which are done by Meg Cabot!
May 27, 2017
3,5 - Bem rapidinho e gostoso de ler :) Fiquei super nostálgica do universo de O Diário da Princesa <3 Como eu nunca terminei a série da Mia Thermopolis se pá alguns pontos não peguei, mas com certeza o livro me deu vontade de reler a série e eu vejo claramente esse livro funcionando para adolescentes como ODdP funcionou para mim quando eu tinha 15 anos.
Vou continuar lendo a série :))
Vou continuar lendo a série :))
May 4, 2016
It wasn't a bad book but Olivia lacked the charisma that Mia has.
December 6, 2018
This book is great but there's not much in it.
I mean, I expected it to be long but it was not a long book. It was very short
The story is nice, I'll continue reading the next books (and get details about Michael and Mia)
I mean, I expected it to be long but it was not a long book. It was very short
The story is nice, I'll continue reading the next books (and get details about Michael and Mia)
May 21, 2015
To see review with gif and other reviews visit Howdy YAL.
Truth be told, I was sort of worried about this book. I think because I’ve seen a lot of disastrous YA spinoffs when they go into other genres may it be adult or middle grade. Thankfully, this book didn’t fall down that path.
Overall, this is a cute little book. I feel like it might be on the younger side of middle grade though. Honestly, Olivia sounded more like ten than twelve, but that might just be me. Regardless of that, it surprisingly worked really well for me.
For long time fans like me, it was a nice way to get reacquainted with these characters before Royal Wedding and for younger readers it’s a nice entrance into the main series. Though when I was Olivia’s age I think that’s when I began reading Diaries. So…
Okay.
Let’s avoid how old I am.
The point is, this one has all the charm of the original book series, but without all the othings that made it for older readers. And Grandmere is halfway normal in this book because Olivia hasn’t seen that shes’ a super villain in disguise yet.
I really liked the contrast between Olivia and Mia. They are the same, but not. And Olivia was an interesting enough character. I really do look forward to seeing how she develops later on in this series.
As far as plot goes, this one is pretty bare bones. I don’t even think the book is over two hundred pages if even that. Sure, there’s the whole Olivia custody part-which I had to give the whole stink eye to as a lawyer-but that was overall pretty anticlimactic.
And seriously, what was up with Olivia’s Dursley like relatives. She might as well been sleeping in a cupboard. Two Ferraris, seriously?
To be honest, the abuse that she suffered shouldn’t have been as glossed over as it was. Because while it wasn’t Lifetime movie bad, it was bad enough to issue Olivia a few sessions in Dr. Knutz’s office. I really hope Meg explores this issue in future additions, but I really don’t think it probably will be.
The one thing I’m really worried about is how the whole royal thing will be treated in future books. There were hints in this one-teh whole lady in waiting thing and Phillipe dressed in full prince regalia while he was just at home-that makes me think that it might be heading in a cheesy Princess Diaries 2 fashion. I get that this is geared for younger audience, but I pray to the book gods that it doesn’t go there. The Nostalgia Critic reviewed that movie, I think that tells you right there that that’s not a good idea to try to imitate.
Another thing that I wanted more in this book was Michael. I wanted an illustration of him damn it, since this was Meg doing the art work and it’s probably the closest representation I’m going to get to him-it’s sort of nice seeing how author’s view their characters and most of the drawings were pretty spot on to how I thought the characters looked, though Mia was a lot more glamorous than I thought she’d be. But then I remember book ten and am like yeah…
Overall, this is a sweet addition to The Princess Diaries book. I recommend it to any die hard Princess Diaries fan or if you have a princess obsessed tween give it to them.
Truth be told, I was sort of worried about this book. I think because I’ve seen a lot of disastrous YA spinoffs when they go into other genres may it be adult or middle grade. Thankfully, this book didn’t fall down that path.
Overall, this is a cute little book. I feel like it might be on the younger side of middle grade though. Honestly, Olivia sounded more like ten than twelve, but that might just be me. Regardless of that, it surprisingly worked really well for me.
For long time fans like me, it was a nice way to get reacquainted with these characters before Royal Wedding and for younger readers it’s a nice entrance into the main series. Though when I was Olivia’s age I think that’s when I began reading Diaries. So…
Okay.
Let’s avoid how old I am.
The point is, this one has all the charm of the original book series, but without all the othings that made it for older readers. And Grandmere is halfway normal in this book because Olivia hasn’t seen that shes’ a super villain in disguise yet.
I really liked the contrast between Olivia and Mia. They are the same, but not. And Olivia was an interesting enough character. I really do look forward to seeing how she develops later on in this series.
As far as plot goes, this one is pretty bare bones. I don’t even think the book is over two hundred pages if even that. Sure, there’s the whole Olivia custody part-which I had to give the whole stink eye to as a lawyer-but that was overall pretty anticlimactic.
And seriously, what was up with Olivia’s Dursley like relatives. She might as well been sleeping in a cupboard. Two Ferraris, seriously?
To be honest, the abuse that she suffered shouldn’t have been as glossed over as it was. Because while it wasn’t Lifetime movie bad, it was bad enough to issue Olivia a few sessions in Dr. Knutz’s office. I really hope Meg explores this issue in future additions, but I really don’t think it probably will be.
The one thing I’m really worried about is how the whole royal thing will be treated in future books. There were hints in this one-teh whole lady in waiting thing and Phillipe dressed in full prince regalia while he was just at home-that makes me think that it might be heading in a cheesy Princess Diaries 2 fashion. I get that this is geared for younger audience, but I pray to the book gods that it doesn’t go there. The Nostalgia Critic reviewed that movie, I think that tells you right there that that’s not a good idea to try to imitate.
Another thing that I wanted more in this book was Michael. I wanted an illustration of him damn it, since this was Meg doing the art work and it’s probably the closest representation I’m going to get to him-it’s sort of nice seeing how author’s view their characters and most of the drawings were pretty spot on to how I thought the characters looked, though Mia was a lot more glamorous than I thought she’d be. But then I remember book ten and am like yeah…
Overall, this is a sweet addition to The Princess Diaries book. I recommend it to any die hard Princess Diaries fan or if you have a princess obsessed tween give it to them.
February 19, 2015
THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WHAT A NERD GIRL SAYS
I don't often read middle grade novels, I tend to focus more on YA and NA but there was NO way at all I was going to turn down the chance to read the newest novel by Meg Cabot in one of my favorite fictional worlds, The Princess Diaries series. Without getting too spoiler-y, we're introduced to Olivia, who is a somewhat awkward, but totally adorable 12 year old girl who somehow gets into a load of trouble with the most popular girl in school, who wants to beat her up after school. That is, until she finds out that her father, a mysterious man who has sent her letters and presents for years, is actually a crown prince, and her sister, a princess, THE Princess Amelia of Genovia. Enter a whirlwind of changes for the girl as she steps into her new role as Princess Olivia.
There was SO much I liked about this book.
One, the fact that Olivia is biracial. We need more and more diversity in our books and this is just plain beautiful. I love every bit of this completely.
Two, I love that Olivia is writing in a journal the way Mia did. It feels so familiar. It feels familiar to get to know this character in such a similar way that you got to know Mia when she learned that she was a princess.
Three, I love that Olivia is younger than Mia, and I love that she has had different reactions, and a different exposure to this news. True, she's younger than Mia was in that first novel, and this book is geared toward a different age group but I love that we get a sort of familiar story but with a brand new character.
Four, Olivia is just SO incredibly fun. She's spunky and honest and fun. She kind of takes things as they came to her. She's a princess? Cool. She gets a new dog? Awesome. She has the weirdest grandmere on the planet? All right. She has to move to Genovia to learn how to be a princess? Why not?
Five, I like that even though this is a middle grade novel...it hints at some deeper things as well. First off, that even though she's with her family now, her real family hasn't been there for quite some time, even though her father knew she existed. Sure, there's more to that and Olivia's mom wanted her away from that, that sort of thing but it opens up a larger question of whether she would have ever gained a relationship with her father.
And it also shows the family that she had already, a family that treated her kind of terribly actually. Her adopted family was kind of neglecting, even in their attempts to protect her so that's kind of interesting as well.
Six, we get to see Mia again, and see the beginnings of her preparations for her wedding to Michael (which, like, ohmygod, I'm fangirling so hard over this! I've been waiting...let's see, I was 12 when I read the first book...so 14 years, 15 years for this?). And Olivia is going to be a junior bridesmaid. We get to see Prince Philipe and Grandmere and it just feels good to see those characters again. I LOVED it.
Straight up, its a great book for those who are already fans of The Princess Diaries and would like a dose of nostalgia and I think it'll be great for those who haven't been introduced. They can meet Olivia and perhaps go back and read Mia's story and that's just fabulous!
I don't often read middle grade novels, I tend to focus more on YA and NA but there was NO way at all I was going to turn down the chance to read the newest novel by Meg Cabot in one of my favorite fictional worlds, The Princess Diaries series. Without getting too spoiler-y, we're introduced to Olivia, who is a somewhat awkward, but totally adorable 12 year old girl who somehow gets into a load of trouble with the most popular girl in school, who wants to beat her up after school. That is, until she finds out that her father, a mysterious man who has sent her letters and presents for years, is actually a crown prince, and her sister, a princess, THE Princess Amelia of Genovia. Enter a whirlwind of changes for the girl as she steps into her new role as Princess Olivia.
There was SO much I liked about this book.
One, the fact that Olivia is biracial. We need more and more diversity in our books and this is just plain beautiful. I love every bit of this completely.
Two, I love that Olivia is writing in a journal the way Mia did. It feels so familiar. It feels familiar to get to know this character in such a similar way that you got to know Mia when she learned that she was a princess.
Three, I love that Olivia is younger than Mia, and I love that she has had different reactions, and a different exposure to this news. True, she's younger than Mia was in that first novel, and this book is geared toward a different age group but I love that we get a sort of familiar story but with a brand new character.
Four, Olivia is just SO incredibly fun. She's spunky and honest and fun. She kind of takes things as they came to her. She's a princess? Cool. She gets a new dog? Awesome. She has the weirdest grandmere on the planet? All right. She has to move to Genovia to learn how to be a princess? Why not?
Five, I like that even though this is a middle grade novel...it hints at some deeper things as well. First off, that even though she's with her family now, her real family hasn't been there for quite some time, even though her father knew she existed. Sure, there's more to that and Olivia's mom wanted her away from that, that sort of thing but it opens up a larger question of whether she would have ever gained a relationship with her father.
And it also shows the family that she had already, a family that treated her kind of terribly actually. Her adopted family was kind of neglecting, even in their attempts to protect her so that's kind of interesting as well.
Six, we get to see Mia again, and see the beginnings of her preparations for her wedding to Michael (which, like, ohmygod, I'm fangirling so hard over this! I've been waiting...let's see, I was 12 when I read the first book...so 14 years, 15 years for this?). And Olivia is going to be a junior bridesmaid. We get to see Prince Philipe and Grandmere and it just feels good to see those characters again. I LOVED it.
Straight up, its a great book for those who are already fans of The Princess Diaries and would like a dose of nostalgia and I think it'll be great for those who haven't been introduced. They can meet Olivia and perhaps go back and read Mia's story and that's just fabulous!
April 19, 2015
So adorable! Love this new spinoff series to the Princess Diaries and cannot wait for more.
I found Notebooks From a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot to be utterly adorable. I was always going to be hugely excited about a new Princess Diaries spin-off series and this first book in the series does a great job of introducing us to new (and old!) characters and a new setting for a brand-new middle grade audience.
At the same time as being very, very excited, I was also a little bit nervous that this spin-off series featuring Mia's long-lost half-sister, Olivia Grace, would feel very samey to what I've already read in the Princess Diaries series. It was a tough one. I think I wanted more of the writing style and sense of humour of the Princess Diaries series... but something different too. It's a very fine line, but I think Meg Cabot did a brilliant job of doing just that.
In this book, we're introduced to Olivia, a rather adorable middle school girl whose mother has died and who has never really known her father. She's written letters back and forth with him but knows very little about her dad. So little that Olivia resorts to making up a story about him and his life, pretending that he's an archaeologist who travels the world and therefore is unable to provide a safe and stable home for her. And she's okay with that. Even when she lives with her aunt and uncle and her cousins, none of whom are particularly that friendly with her.
I thought Olivia was quite sweet, with her interest in animals and particularly wildlife illustrations. This book is wonderfully illustrated by Meg Cabot herself and features quite a lot of cute drawings of animals and her observations on the events around her. She's quite plucky and interesting and she takes everything in her stride really well. I liked that about her. She's not had an easy time of things. She's being picked on at school by a girl jealous of her new fame and royal connections, she's clearly not treated very well at home. The media start speculating about the fact that she's mixed race and my heart broke for her. I was brought to tears quite often when Olivia finds such happiness in the smallest of things: a salmon and cheese bagel, the idea of a proper family.
It was also, of course, incredibly nice to see the return of some of my favourite characters. Especially Mia and Grandmere. I loved being back in this world and discovering more about the new characters and the old. This is very much the first book in the series and spends a great deal of time with introductions and laying out the future books in the series as Olivia will be carrying out her own princess lessons but instead of New York, she'll be spending hers in Genovia and I, for one, cannot wait to read more.
Notebooks From A Middle School Princess is the funny, sweet and adorable new story that will have you smiling and laughing and feeling very emotional for this newest Genovian princess!
I found Notebooks From a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot to be utterly adorable. I was always going to be hugely excited about a new Princess Diaries spin-off series and this first book in the series does a great job of introducing us to new (and old!) characters and a new setting for a brand-new middle grade audience.
At the same time as being very, very excited, I was also a little bit nervous that this spin-off series featuring Mia's long-lost half-sister, Olivia Grace, would feel very samey to what I've already read in the Princess Diaries series. It was a tough one. I think I wanted more of the writing style and sense of humour of the Princess Diaries series... but something different too. It's a very fine line, but I think Meg Cabot did a brilliant job of doing just that.
In this book, we're introduced to Olivia, a rather adorable middle school girl whose mother has died and who has never really known her father. She's written letters back and forth with him but knows very little about her dad. So little that Olivia resorts to making up a story about him and his life, pretending that he's an archaeologist who travels the world and therefore is unable to provide a safe and stable home for her. And she's okay with that. Even when she lives with her aunt and uncle and her cousins, none of whom are particularly that friendly with her.
I thought Olivia was quite sweet, with her interest in animals and particularly wildlife illustrations. This book is wonderfully illustrated by Meg Cabot herself and features quite a lot of cute drawings of animals and her observations on the events around her. She's quite plucky and interesting and she takes everything in her stride really well. I liked that about her. She's not had an easy time of things. She's being picked on at school by a girl jealous of her new fame and royal connections, she's clearly not treated very well at home. The media start speculating about the fact that she's mixed race and my heart broke for her. I was brought to tears quite often when Olivia finds such happiness in the smallest of things: a salmon and cheese bagel, the idea of a proper family.
It was also, of course, incredibly nice to see the return of some of my favourite characters. Especially Mia and Grandmere. I loved being back in this world and discovering more about the new characters and the old. This is very much the first book in the series and spends a great deal of time with introductions and laying out the future books in the series as Olivia will be carrying out her own princess lessons but instead of New York, she'll be spending hers in Genovia and I, for one, cannot wait to read more.
Notebooks From A Middle School Princess is the funny, sweet and adorable new story that will have you smiling and laughing and feeling very emotional for this newest Genovian princess!
February 2, 2019
This is really fun to listen to after finishing the last book in the Princess Diaries series just a few months ago. The events in this notebook overlap with that last book in the earlier series and show us some of the same events from the perspective of the newly discovered Princess Olivia. Really well done as a middle grade book and excellent work from the narrator.
April 25, 2017
My children are of an age where they can say, "mom - I've discovered this amazing book! Go read it!" And then I do. Life is pretty great.
July 20, 2018
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess is an exercise in pointlessness.
Olivia is the younger sister of Princess Mia of "The Princess Diaries" fame except she doesn't know it yet. She finds out when a popular girl in school threatens to beat her up for being uppity and being a liar. Luckily, Princess Mia just happens to show up at her school to take Olivia to meet her estranged father and inadvertently break up the fight. Olivia must decide if she is going to live with her father and embrace the life of a princess or stay with her aunt and uncle to live as a normal girl.
This functions as a loose sequel to the Princess Diaries series. This doesn't really work since the Princess Diaries is meant for a YA audience and this is meant for a juvie audience.
Just like Princess Diaries, this is meant to be written in a diary format. In fact, it is actually written just like a novel but every once in a while Olivia says something like "I'm writing this in a limo!" or "You won't believe what happened!" We are also meant to suspend our disbelief an imagine that Olivia is writing these things either as they are happening or while the people with her just silently watch her write. And to be nitpicky: this book has a weird amount of food porn. I know when I write in a journal I mention the succulent strawberries and creamy cheese.
The characters in this book are the literary equivalent of mayonnaise. Just bland and kind of there. Olivia describes herself as average and yeah...that's about right. She can draw and she likes dogs ok and that's about all we get from her. She loves her dad and sister who she literally just met. Dad is just a nice guy who wanted to tell Olivia the truth but couldn't cause reasons. Now he can cause...reasons? The bully character starts to bully her with no real reason or build up. You'd think someone would maybe suck up to a classmate that she just discovered was a princess. Why on earth would she decide the answer is to "give her a smack-down"? Her aunt, uncle and cousins get the barest of characterization before the discovery that Olivia is a princess and afterwards...eh? Their worst offenses were that they wouldn't let Olivia have a phone and they treated her like she was average. They didn't abuse her. Olivia admits that her uncle treated her like one of the family. Yet by the end we are meant to believe that they never loved her?
All of this brings me to the conflict: should Olivia stay with her adoptive family or go live with her real royal one. Well, this SHOULD be the conflict but it seems quite obvious which everyone involved would prefer. It's not like Harry Potter where Olivia is horribly mistreated but needs to stay for her own safety. On the other hand, it's not like her adoptive family was super loving and Olivia herself has a conflict of choosing. Nothing about choosing to be a princess is a hard choice. She doesn't even seem like she'll miss her friends!
If your child wants a juvie fiction book about princess lead them to Ella Enchanted, Tuesdays at the Castle, Grounded the Adventures of Repunzel, The Tale of Despereaux, etc. If you are looking for a book with a female POC try One Crazy Summer, The Mighty Miss Malone, Patina, etc. There just has to be better than this.
Olivia is the younger sister of Princess Mia of "The Princess Diaries" fame except she doesn't know it yet. She finds out when a popular girl in school threatens to beat her up for being uppity and being a liar. Luckily, Princess Mia just happens to show up at her school to take Olivia to meet her estranged father and inadvertently break up the fight. Olivia must decide if she is going to live with her father and embrace the life of a princess or stay with her aunt and uncle to live as a normal girl.
This functions as a loose sequel to the Princess Diaries series. This doesn't really work since the Princess Diaries is meant for a YA audience and this is meant for a juvie audience.
Just like Princess Diaries, this is meant to be written in a diary format. In fact, it is actually written just like a novel but every once in a while Olivia says something like "I'm writing this in a limo!" or "You won't believe what happened!" We are also meant to suspend our disbelief an imagine that Olivia is writing these things either as they are happening or while the people with her just silently watch her write. And to be nitpicky: this book has a weird amount of food porn. I know when I write in a journal I mention the succulent strawberries and creamy cheese.
The characters in this book are the literary equivalent of mayonnaise. Just bland and kind of there. Olivia describes herself as average and yeah...that's about right. She can draw and she likes dogs ok and that's about all we get from her. She loves her dad and sister who she literally just met. Dad is just a nice guy who wanted to tell Olivia the truth but couldn't cause reasons. Now he can cause...reasons? The bully character starts to bully her with no real reason or build up. You'd think someone would maybe suck up to a classmate that she just discovered was a princess. Why on earth would she decide the answer is to "give her a smack-down"? Her aunt, uncle and cousins get the barest of characterization before the discovery that Olivia is a princess and afterwards...eh? Their worst offenses were that they wouldn't let Olivia have a phone and they treated her like she was average. They didn't abuse her. Olivia admits that her uncle treated her like one of the family. Yet by the end we are meant to believe that they never loved her?
All of this brings me to the conflict: should Olivia stay with her adoptive family or go live with her real royal one. Well, this SHOULD be the conflict but it seems quite obvious which everyone involved would prefer. It's not like Harry Potter where Olivia is horribly mistreated but needs to stay for her own safety. On the other hand, it's not like her adoptive family was super loving and Olivia herself has a conflict of choosing. Nothing about choosing to be a princess is a hard choice. She doesn't even seem like she'll miss her friends!
If your child wants a juvie fiction book about princess lead them to Ella Enchanted, Tuesdays at the Castle, Grounded the Adventures of Repunzel, The Tale of Despereaux, etc. If you are looking for a book with a female POC try One Crazy Summer, The Mighty Miss Malone, Patina, etc. There just has to be better than this.
May 22, 2024
Olivia Grace Clarisse Harrison is the half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia. Though she has never met her father, she thought he had a difficult job that did not allow him to be with her. And that she resembles her mom too much, which her dad maybe could not handle, since her beautiful and brave mom died when she was a baby. But the day she learns she is a princess is not at all normal in the 'average' Olivia's life!
Wow, I had no recollection of reading this book before. So, it felt like I was having déjà vu as I kept reading on.
First of all, the illustrations are so pretty! Just like Mia, Olivia too maintains a journal in her notebook, noting down everything that transpires along with little cute sketches to depict them. Her writing style is almost similar to that of Mia's but isn't as annoying and whiny as the teenage Mia. She seems mature for her age and is very compassionate and full of life.
This book begins just before the scene in Royal Wedding, where Mia meets her for the first time, by saving Olivia from her bully.
It is a fun short read happening in the world of Princess Diaries just around the time of the wedding of Mia and Michael. So, if you love Princess Diaries, you must definitely read this series too!
June 14, 2022: Aww, loved Olivia. She's so innocent, kind and adorable. It was short and sweet but full of drama. A typical Princess Diary!
Wow, I had no recollection of reading this book before. So, it felt like I was having déjà vu as I kept reading on.
First of all, the illustrations are so pretty! Just like Mia, Olivia too maintains a journal in her notebook, noting down everything that transpires along with little cute sketches to depict them. Her writing style is almost similar to that of Mia's but isn't as annoying and whiny as the teenage Mia. She seems mature for her age and is very compassionate and full of life.
This book begins just before the scene in Royal Wedding, where Mia meets her for the first time, by saving Olivia from her bully.
It is a fun short read happening in the world of Princess Diaries just around the time of the wedding of Mia and Michael. So, if you love Princess Diaries, you must definitely read this series too!
June 14, 2022: Aww, loved Olivia. She's so innocent, kind and adorable. It was short and sweet but full of drama. A typical Princess Diary!
November 1, 2017
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess is the first book in a new middle grade series that focuses on Olivia, Princess Mia's half-sister.
This book overlaps with the last Princess Diaries book, Royal Wedding.
The book is narrated by 12 year old Olivia. She has been raised by her aunt and uncle in New Jersey and finds out that she is a princess.
The book has diary/notebook entries and it details her life starting on the day that Mia shows up at her school. I read the last Princess Diaries book and many of these scenes are the same ones from that book only this time we get Olivia's point of view.
I don't normally read middle grade books. But this was a really cute companion to Royal Wedding. I really like Olivia and found her POV very entertaining. I really would like to read book two in this series.
This book overlaps with the last Princess Diaries book, Royal Wedding.
The book is narrated by 12 year old Olivia. She has been raised by her aunt and uncle in New Jersey and finds out that she is a princess.
The book has diary/notebook entries and it details her life starting on the day that Mia shows up at her school. I read the last Princess Diaries book and many of these scenes are the same ones from that book only this time we get Olivia's point of view.
I don't normally read middle grade books. But this was a really cute companion to Royal Wedding. I really like Olivia and found her POV very entertaining. I really would like to read book two in this series.
August 22, 2017
Cute! This was way shorter than I was expecting. I look forward to moving on with these. Olivia is really awesome!
I like her much more than Princess Mia. Mia was seriously annoying as an MC in her series when she was younger.
Olivia, on the other hand, is more mature and tolerable.
I don't have a great deal to say. There's nothing really new.
HOWEVER:
Can I express how I get so pissed when I read about bullying and injustice???
It's beyond frustrating and the characters that do it drive me freaking INSANE!!
That stupid little whatzername bitch who's all like "my daddy" this and "my daddy" that needs to be slapped.
So does her father, his fucking client, that fucking client's wife, and their son!!!!
Forgive me, I got a bit carried away. But you get the idea.
I hate greedy, unjust, self-centered assholes.
the end
I like her much more than Princess Mia. Mia was seriously annoying as an MC in her series when she was younger.
Olivia, on the other hand, is more mature and tolerable.
I don't have a great deal to say. There's nothing really new.
HOWEVER:
Can I express how I get so pissed when I read about bullying and injustice???
It's beyond frustrating and the characters that do it drive me freaking INSANE!!
That stupid little whatzername bitch who's all like "my daddy" this and "my daddy" that needs to be slapped.
So does her father, his fucking client, that fucking client's wife, and their son!!!!
Forgive me, I got a bit carried away. But you get the idea.
I hate greedy, unjust, self-centered assholes.
the end
February 8, 2022
this was a pretty good book besides miss middle school princess' bodyguard not being able to be within 20 feet of miss middle school bully because her daddy's a big lawyer and threatened to sue the school. so princess ends up getting punched in the face by miss middle school bully and middle school bully barely gets in trouble.
June 6, 2019
This book is a girl who is a princess and she is a middle schooler. This book describes her more than part1 and this book is a really excellent book I have ever read. I can not even stop reading this book.
March 25, 2020
This was super cute! I really enjoyed Olivia as a character and I’m glad that she learned so much about herself and gained some confidence. I would definitely recommend this for fans of The Princess Diaries series as you’ll get to see some guest star appearances! I’ll be doing a full review soon.
February 4, 2021
Tenho quase 40 anos e continuo gostando muito dos livros da Meg. É sempre prazeroso passar um tempo lendo um livro dela. Quero saber como será a vida de princesa da Olívia e acho que vou ler os livros da Mia.
December 18, 2025
As someone who read the entire Princess Diaries series more than a decade ago, how did I not know this existed?
Honestly, the five stars are pure nostalgia. I love that the format stays true to the original series, it immediately brought back that familiar Meg Cabot charm. It is definitely aimed at a younger audience than Princess Diaries, but it’s cute, sweet, and the little illustrations add a nice touch.
But… is it just me, or is Mia’s dad kind of a player? One secret child is wild enough, but two? Really?
Winding up this year on another throwback series.
Honestly, the five stars are pure nostalgia. I love that the format stays true to the original series, it immediately brought back that familiar Meg Cabot charm. It is definitely aimed at a younger audience than Princess Diaries, but it’s cute, sweet, and the little illustrations add a nice touch.
But… is it just me, or is Mia’s dad kind of a player? One secret child is wild enough, but two? Really?
Winding up this year on another throwback series.
May 11, 2023
2023:
Once again, I stand by what I said in 2015. I didn't plan to reread this series as well, but...Olivia is way less exhausting than Mia. (Also, it's a very fast read—I read the entire thing on my walk home.) I remember her relatives as being considerably more awful, but I imagine that Cabot didn't want to draw too strong a connection to Harry Potter. On the other hand, I am low-key flabbergasted that their father would think it a good idea to keep a second illegitimate daughter in the dark...and to keep her secret from his entire family as well. Yikes.
2015:
Ridiculous? Yes. Blatantly capitalising on the success of The Princess Diaries and picking up another age group of readers? Yes. Kind of repetitive, considering Royal Wedding? Yes.
And yet...this was a lot of fun. Olivia's a lot easier to take than Mia—more funny-and-smart than neurotic-and-boy-obsessed. Probably because it's aimed at younger readers, there's no question of romance and crushes and so on, and because Olivia's less self-obsessed than Mia, it's rather more fun to be in her head for a whole book. She also has a much easier time with the revelation that she's a princess. I'm actually rather looking forward to book 2, since I don't think we've ever seen Genovia in any real way.
Guilty pleasures!
Once again, I stand by what I said in 2015. I didn't plan to reread this series as well, but...Olivia is way less exhausting than Mia. (Also, it's a very fast read—I read the entire thing on my walk home.) I remember her relatives as being considerably more awful, but I imagine that Cabot didn't want to draw too strong a connection to Harry Potter. On the other hand, I am low-key flabbergasted that their father would think it a good idea to keep a second illegitimate daughter in the dark...and to keep her secret from his entire family as well. Yikes.
2015:
Ridiculous? Yes. Blatantly capitalising on the success of The Princess Diaries and picking up another age group of readers? Yes. Kind of repetitive, considering Royal Wedding? Yes.
And yet...this was a lot of fun. Olivia's a lot easier to take than Mia—more funny-and-smart than neurotic-and-boy-obsessed. Probably because it's aimed at younger readers, there's no question of romance and crushes and so on, and because Olivia's less self-obsessed than Mia, it's rather more fun to be in her head for a whole book. She also has a much easier time with the revelation that she's a princess. I'm actually rather looking forward to book 2, since I don't think we've ever seen Genovia in any real way.
Guilty pleasures!
December 5, 2015
My 12 year old self would have loved this. Granted my current 25 year old self loved it as well. I can guarantee that whatever Meg Cabot writes I will love. Great book.
June 17, 2015
Such a great book for MG readers, and anyone who loved The Princess Diaries. Can't wait for the sequel!
January 27, 2016
Totally adorable and hopefully the beginning to a series!
July 2, 2016
It was not bad but I definitely enjoyed the princess diaries much more :)
May 26, 2015
Let’s talk reboots. Mentioning the fact that a property is getting rebooted usually illicits the response of “HOW DARE THEY” and the claim that various people’s memories of childhoods are ruined. And while I’ve done my fair share of “HOW DARE YOU” (see: Jem movie trailer), there really hasn’t been any major reboots of the things I’ve loved growing up or as a teenager, until about last year.
To be very fair, this book isn’t meant for me. Not because I didn’t like it (because I did), but because I’ve had my series already. And while it’s great to see all of the characters that I’ve loved before showing up and through the eyes of someone who idolizes them is great for me, I know that’s not the point of this book. Sure, there’s some shout-outs and parallels (I don’t know what it says about me and how many times I’ve read the first Princess Diaries book because I immediately recognized the “Her dad? A prince? Yeah, right!” as a callback to the very first book), but this is a story about Olivia, not her sister.
What I really like about Olivia’s story is that although she’s grown up in an emotionally distant family, she does realize that she’s not worthless and that there are people who do care about her, like her father. (Although Phillipe, we need to talk about your parenting skills, because this is the second child you’ve kinda left in the dark.) I really like Olivia, she’s sweet and wide-eyed and generally excited that not only she has a family, but they’re so welcoming to her. Yes, Olivia is excited about being a princess and that she now gets to do all of these cool things, but the fact that she’s so ready to trust Mia and Phillipe is what stuck with me. Even the fact that Olivia manages to immediately charm Grandmere (Grandmere! Casual reminder, book! Clarisse can be the WORST and then you stack her against Julie Andrews’ version) warms my heart because I was expecting the absolute worst backlash reaction to Olivia being discovered.
Here’s my one problem with the book, and this is going back to the fact that this book isn’t specifically meant for me: I feel like there’s only half of the store, and we’re not getting that second half for another two weeks. On its own, I do think the main idea works with Olivia suddenly finding out that she’s a princess and getting this fantastic new life dumped on her, but the way it’s introduced is literally on the first page with zero preamble or set-up. (Although to be fair, I kinda liked that, especially with the fact that Olivia’s incredibly restricted from the media beforehand, it does actually make sense. Also, remember, it took her sister fourteen years to find out about who she really was, and Mia had spent time with her father and grandmother until then.) But there’s so much that we miss about how this comes about, how the media finds out about Olivia, and the realization that Olivia’s aunt and uncle have been stealing from her for years. I understand why it’s not in here, and there’s part of me that doesn’t want to see it, but knowing that “Okay, well the explanation’s coming,” makes me stop and think, “Hang on a minute, what, why is this happening already.”
And this is what I say when this series isn’t meant for me. Yes, there’s tons of things in here that for an older fan of the series to pick up, and it’s great. We get to see all of these characters again (THE RETURN OF TINA HAKIM-BABA who I honestly thought would have been running a dating site start-up by now. But being a lady-in-waiting to Mia is totally up her alley too. ALSO LARS, I MISSED YOU). And getting to see Mia as being cool and confident and coaching Olivia on how to be a princess means so much because for a character who did have a hard time fitting in and growing up, getting to see her being looked up is great, especially given how much Mia meant to me when I was growing up.
(Can we talk about that line at the end, when Olivia’s Aunt Catherine accuses Mia of being a snob and only caring about her looks and getting in the magazines? And Mia’s reaction to that? OH MY GOD. MY HEART. Just the fact that Mia is willing to defend her little sister and stick up for her and protect her as best as she can from the media is just warming my heart and then there’s that knowing how much Mia didn’t want that to happen ever. Excuse me, I’ll be in the corner dying of feels.)
(Also, additional sidenotes: 1. Please please tell me that Mia’s reaction to finding out that she has a little sister is sheer excitement, given how much she wanted one in the original series, 2. I kinda want to know what she’s going to do with a younger brother and sister (and also preteen Rocky oh my gosh can that be a thing in Royal Wedding), and 3. OLIVIA MEETING AUNT LILLY.)
While I hesitate to call this series a reboot of the original Princess Diaries series, there are elements of rebooting the series entirely for a new, younger audience who might not be as ready for some of the more mature elements that the original series had even early on. There’s a reason why while the movies are great for little girls (despite some of the adult jokes that managed to slip in), I wouldn’t give the first book to an 8 year old. And given the fact that the majority of my generation who did have the original series are starting to have kids, are beginning to have little girls and we want to share that experience with them, having the Middle School Princess series is great. We get to introduce them to these characters and concepts and then later on, when they ready for the more mature stuff, they get to see how Mia’s gone from “Awkward teenager in the WORST POSITION EVER” to “Olivia’s cool big sis” (COOL BIG SISTER MIA IS THE BEST OH MY GOD).
But I do really like this series, as it’s started so far. I don’t think that it’s going to delve deep into the harder parts of being a princess at the worst time of your life ever (considering that we’ve had ten books of that already), but I think it gives a whole new set of girls who do need someone like Olivia in their lives and knowing that things are going to be okay, even if you think that today is the worst day of your life. I’m excited to see where this goes.
To be very fair, this book isn’t meant for me. Not because I didn’t like it (because I did), but because I’ve had my series already. And while it’s great to see all of the characters that I’ve loved before showing up and through the eyes of someone who idolizes them is great for me, I know that’s not the point of this book. Sure, there’s some shout-outs and parallels (I don’t know what it says about me and how many times I’ve read the first Princess Diaries book because I immediately recognized the “Her dad? A prince? Yeah, right!” as a callback to the very first book), but this is a story about Olivia, not her sister.
What I really like about Olivia’s story is that although she’s grown up in an emotionally distant family, she does realize that she’s not worthless and that there are people who do care about her, like her father. (Although Phillipe, we need to talk about your parenting skills, because this is the second child you’ve kinda left in the dark.) I really like Olivia, she’s sweet and wide-eyed and generally excited that not only she has a family, but they’re so welcoming to her. Yes, Olivia is excited about being a princess and that she now gets to do all of these cool things, but the fact that she’s so ready to trust Mia and Phillipe is what stuck with me. Even the fact that Olivia manages to immediately charm Grandmere (Grandmere! Casual reminder, book! Clarisse can be the WORST and then you stack her against Julie Andrews’ version) warms my heart because I was expecting the absolute worst backlash reaction to Olivia being discovered.
Here’s my one problem with the book, and this is going back to the fact that this book isn’t specifically meant for me: I feel like there’s only half of the store, and we’re not getting that second half for another two weeks. On its own, I do think the main idea works with Olivia suddenly finding out that she’s a princess and getting this fantastic new life dumped on her, but the way it’s introduced is literally on the first page with zero preamble or set-up. (Although to be fair, I kinda liked that, especially with the fact that Olivia’s incredibly restricted from the media beforehand, it does actually make sense. Also, remember, it took her sister fourteen years to find out about who she really was, and Mia had spent time with her father and grandmother until then.) But there’s so much that we miss about how this comes about, how the media finds out about Olivia, and the realization that Olivia’s aunt and uncle have been stealing from her for years. I understand why it’s not in here, and there’s part of me that doesn’t want to see it, but knowing that “Okay, well the explanation’s coming,” makes me stop and think, “Hang on a minute, what, why is this happening already.”
And this is what I say when this series isn’t meant for me. Yes, there’s tons of things in here that for an older fan of the series to pick up, and it’s great. We get to see all of these characters again (THE RETURN OF TINA HAKIM-BABA who I honestly thought would have been running a dating site start-up by now. But being a lady-in-waiting to Mia is totally up her alley too. ALSO LARS, I MISSED YOU). And getting to see Mia as being cool and confident and coaching Olivia on how to be a princess means so much because for a character who did have a hard time fitting in and growing up, getting to see her being looked up is great, especially given how much Mia meant to me when I was growing up.
(Can we talk about that line at the end, when Olivia’s Aunt Catherine accuses Mia of being a snob and only caring about her looks and getting in the magazines? And Mia’s reaction to that? OH MY GOD. MY HEART. Just the fact that Mia is willing to defend her little sister and stick up for her and protect her as best as she can from the media is just warming my heart and then there’s that knowing how much Mia didn’t want that to happen ever. Excuse me, I’ll be in the corner dying of feels.)
(Also, additional sidenotes: 1. Please please tell me that Mia’s reaction to finding out that she has a little sister is sheer excitement, given how much she wanted one in the original series, 2. I kinda want to know what she’s going to do with a younger brother and sister (and also preteen Rocky oh my gosh can that be a thing in Royal Wedding), and 3. OLIVIA MEETING AUNT LILLY.)
While I hesitate to call this series a reboot of the original Princess Diaries series, there are elements of rebooting the series entirely for a new, younger audience who might not be as ready for some of the more mature elements that the original series had even early on. There’s a reason why while the movies are great for little girls (despite some of the adult jokes that managed to slip in), I wouldn’t give the first book to an 8 year old. And given the fact that the majority of my generation who did have the original series are starting to have kids, are beginning to have little girls and we want to share that experience with them, having the Middle School Princess series is great. We get to introduce them to these characters and concepts and then later on, when they ready for the more mature stuff, they get to see how Mia’s gone from “Awkward teenager in the WORST POSITION EVER” to “Olivia’s cool big sis” (COOL BIG SISTER MIA IS THE BEST OH MY GOD).
But I do really like this series, as it’s started so far. I don’t think that it’s going to delve deep into the harder parts of being a princess at the worst time of your life ever (considering that we’ve had ten books of that already), but I think it gives a whole new set of girls who do need someone like Olivia in their lives and knowing that things are going to be okay, even if you think that today is the worst day of your life. I’m excited to see where this goes.
June 29, 2018
As a huge fan of the Princess Diaries I was pleased to see this new series set in the same „world“, but for younger children. The book is exactly as expected: sweet, short, and well adapted to the targeted reading audience. The most interesting part for me was to see how different a younger kid reacts to the revelation that she is actually a princess.
I listened to the audiobook of the German translation, because this is what I had access to. It was a bit disconcerting, since they made a king out of princess Mia’s dad and a queen out of her grandmother - when we all know that Genovia is a principality!
Except for that detail the audio version was quite good, as I finished it in one sitting.
Apparently the book was illustrated by the author, but I have not seen the art yet.
I listened to the audiobook of the German translation, because this is what I had access to. It was a bit disconcerting, since they made a king out of princess Mia’s dad and a queen out of her grandmother - when we all know that Genovia is a principality!
Except for that detail the audio version was quite good, as I finished it in one sitting.
Apparently the book was illustrated by the author, but I have not seen the art yet.
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August 6, 2017After meeting Meg Cabot yesterday at a book signing, I came home to finish the first installment of the Olivia books. I can't wait to read the next 2 books in the series. I love Olivia's voice and getting to see a new character discover she's a princess just like Mia did. And it's so fun to see glimpses of Mia and her friends in this book.
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