The Princess Diaries (all of it)

by: Meg Cabot

Summary:
    This book isn't too long, so I think I'll be able to summarize it all in just this post. The book starts out with Mia explaining that her mom gave her this diary so she could let out all of her feelings without holding anything back.  At, first Mia thinks its a joke, but as the book goes on, you can tell that she literally writes down everything that happens in her life. Mia then starts to talk about how her mom is dating her Algebra teacher, Mr. Gianini. Mia is totally embarrassed by this for 2 reasons, 1) he's her teacher and 2)she's flunking algebra, so not only does she have to go to review sessions with him everyday after school, she has to see him at her house..talk about awkward..
     Mia's dad comes and stays at the Plaza hotel (did I mention she lives in New York?) and Mia has no idea why he's decided to just come and visit out of the blue. Well, she learns that because of her dad's prostate cancer he had to have...surgery....which made him unable to have anymore children.  Mia is so confused until her dad tells her that this is such a big deal because now she is the heir to the throne of Genovia.  It takes Mia a minute or two to realize that this means that her dad is a PRINCE and she is a PRINCESS. Once this sinks in, she looses it.  Her dad tells her that her grandmother will be coming to give her princess lessons.  Mia is not happy about this news at all, she does not like her grandmother at all. Her dad makes a compromise with Mia, saying that she will be allowed to stay and finish high school if she promises to fulfill her royal duties whenever necessary.
       For Mia's first Princess lesson, her grandmother takes her to get beautified.  She gets a new haircut, fake nails, and a bunch of new clothes.  Mia wants to keep the whole Princess thing a secret (even from her best friend Lilly), sao when everyone (including evil head cheerleader, Lana) makes fun of her she just takes it and moves on.  Lilly and Mia get into a huge fight because she thinks Mia is trying to turn into a "popular".  Mia can't take anymore of it, so she tells Lilly to shut up and simply walks away. While Mia and Lilly are still fighting, Mia beomes friends with this girl named Tina. Tina is shy and lots of people think she's weird because her parents make her have a bodyguard.
    The secret evetnually gets out and all of a sudden everyone wants to be Mia's friend.  Mia gets so mad, but not to mad because when Josh Richter(aka hottest guy in school) breaks up with Lana and asks Mia to the school dance, she accepts in a heartbeat.  When Lilly hears the news, she is not supportive at all.  She simply criticizes her, but fortunately Lilly's brother, Michael, has Mia's back and tells her sister to lay off.  Tina is very understanding and even invites Mia to sleepover the night before the dance so they can get ready together. Mia's Grandmother is so happy that Mia got a date to the dance and takes her out shopping for the perfect designer dress.
    On the night of the dance, Mia and Josh go to this fancy restaurant. What Mia didn't know was that all of his friends were there too.  She really wasn't having a good time.  Things got even worse when they actualy got to the dance.  A bunch of reporters were there wanting to talk to Mia, and when they saw she was with josh, they kept chanting "kiss her!" "Kiss her!!" SO, what does that jerk do...kiss her.  All of sudden Mia gets why Josh asked her out in the first place, he never really liked her, he just wanted to get his 5 minutes of fame.  Well, the Princess of Genovia doesn't like that, so she basically dumps him befre they even finished their date.  The book ends with Mia recaping everything that happened at the dance after she dumped Josh....

Response:
I decided to read this book a few days ago.  I had just watched the movie and started thinking..."hmm I wonder how different the book is from the movie". It was quite a bit different actually.  I was shocked.  I think the only real similarity was that the names are the same. I loved the book though, Mia's character in the book is so funny.  I actually laughed out loud while I was reading some parts. These are my favorite kinds of books, ones that make you laugh.