The Princess Diaries Collection

The Princess Diaries #1-8

by Meg Cabot

The set of books is noted for containing many popular culture references, which include singers, movies, and fads in modern culture. Many critics have taken unkindly to this form of storytelling. In response, Cabot wrote an English teacher into the book Princess In Training who criticizes Mia's writing, telling her that it relies too much on "slick pop culture references." The books contained in this set The Princess Diaries, The Princess Take Two, The Princess Third Time Lucky, The Princess Mia Goes Fourth, The Princess Give Me Five, The Princess Sixsational, The Princess Seventh Heaven, The Princess After Eight.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Humor, Contemporary

2400 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian 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

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this during high school, I only had the awkward girl characteristic but it's still a fun and strangely intellectually somewhat stimulating. Also, encouraged me to write on my diaries/journals more. And, Michaeeeel! Oh Michael.

[Theadora Doss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble rating this because, whilst reading it, I had mixed feelings. The first few books were an extremely nice read, but after that Mia started sounding like a broken record. I suppose she was just a typical teenager, but all the same. BUT! The series was addicting. You start to be so annoyed with Mia that she becomes like a good friend. So I ended up reading all 8 of them. Which is far more than it seems. So don't read this series unless you have two or three free months.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, sweet, and clean. This books are mindless but I enjoy reading them because they make me laugh. They also remind me of who I was in jr. high. (minus the princess part) So, it's kind of like reading my own diary.

[H J Palmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wouldn't recommend this series for your children.

Is it woke?
It is incredibly feminist, and has a fair few progressive elements.

Is it good?
I loved this in primary school. It is different to the movies, but is more gritty and angsty. Unfortunately it is a lot more sexualised and inappropriate, so it is highly inappropriate for young girls and the pretty packaging, appealing tone, and movie just make that worse.

Is it appropriate for your children?
Not at all. Mia is illegitimate, and her mother drinks and has casual sex. Her mother has another illegitimate child, and advises Mia that 'it's only sex' when talking about her teen's relationships. There is a lot about body image, feminism, and nudity as well.
Don't let the fun cover and movie let your daughters fill their heads with trash.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird to think of a grandmother that has eyeliner tattooed to her eyelids to avoid ever being without make up, but very cute and fun-loving accounts for younger readers that are trying to escape their existences by wishing they could also find out they are royalty to whisk them away from their problems. Very cute stories.

[Liyaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating for this series is a 3.8. This book protray's what high-schools, and what modern high-school students are like very well. Also, Mia is quirky, interesting, is relatable by her insecurities, and is overall intertaining. I'm just saying, try to remember what you were like at that age.

[sladynoire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mia + Michael 4 EVERRRRRRRRRR

[Rute Aleixo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertido demaaais, adoro os personagens e ver o crescimento da Mia é incrível

[Katherine Boothroyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good!!!

[Alice Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were very very good books! People who saw the movie first will realize that the movies and books are completely different. I read about 1 book every 2 to 3 days because of how good they were.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1PRINCESS DIARIES- If you saw the movie first, you would find that the Princess Diaries series are surprisingly different.

#2PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT- You start to get to know Mia's fun, excited tone. She's interesting and funny.

#3PRINCESS IN LOVE- If you're a sucker for love (like me), you'll love Mia's "happily ever after" ending! (After reading later books, I felt that this book could have just ended the series fine.)

#4PRINCESS IN WAITING- You become really into Mia's life.

#5PRINCESS IN PINK- If you get annoyed easily (like me), Mia's constant ranting and complaining might get irritating.

#6PRINCESS IN TRAINING- Mia is back to being interesting, but this particular one isn't exactly appropriate for young girls..

#7PARTY PRINCESS- This book seriously has gone into the mind of a developing high school girl. I'll just say that since the 6 Princess Diaries book, it has gone to PG13.

#8PRINCESS ON THE BRINK- This book is clearly not appropriate anymore for young teens *ahem* but this particular one is very interesting and compelling nevertheless. Its suspense is itching me to finish the rest of the series to see what happens!

Overall, these series are really funny and compelling, with some drama here and there. It's an especially good read for high school students since Mia is so RELATE-ABLE.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually didn't finish these, I quit early (after book 6) because I so strongly disagreed with the direction the author continued to take the main character. The books are about a 14-18 (grows with the books) year old girl during high school, challenges she goes through, day to day life, finding out she's a princess and dealing with that, crushes, rivals, etc. The author is actually pretty hilarious at times--the things Mia takes so seriously, etc, and the lists she makes (for example--life lessons she learned from watching Baywatch were pretty great).

What bugged me was the pressure for Mia to keep going further and further with her boyfriend. I kept hoping Mia would take a stand (and the author), but realized by the end of book 6 that wasn't going to happen. Mia's boyfriend pressured her to have sex (when she was ready, but he said he wouldn't wait around forever) when she clearly didn't want to. What bugged me the most was the author tried to present this like Mia was just kind of immature, but when she got a little more mature, then she would be ready. This makes me SO mad!! The message these books send--and not in a subtle way--makes me so mad.

I'm mad I spent so much time on these books--the author is very talented but is sending out a horrible message to girls.

[Tat · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow. One of very few cases where the movie is better than the book! These books had very few redeeming qualities. They almost always read the same....lots of stress because Mia can't seem to be open and honest with her boyfriend because (despite what he's told her in every single book) she thinks he'll dump her. So while these books had a lot of potential, they get annoying really fast. Not to mention that the author seems to think that it's normal and acceptable for 14 year olds to have college boyfriends who constantly push them for sex... A few characters where fun (like her grandmother) but others (like Lilly) are so ridiculously and unlikeable that I wish they'd been written completely out of the story!

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book is called The Princess Diaries. It is about a girl called Mia who is at first a normal girl. But later, her dad told her that she is not Mia Thermopolis. She is Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia. She's heir to the throne of Genovia. Well, her dad can lecture her until he's royal-blue in the face, but no way is Mia going to behave like some posh princess. If you want to know more, read this book NOW!!! I think this book is hilarious and this is also the bestselling THE PRINCESS DIARIES series.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the movie based off these books a while ago and decided to read the books. I'm so glad I did since the books were different and better. For one thing, the movie takes place in San Francisco, and the books take place in New York (Manhattan). I don't like San Francisco, but I love New York, so that was just one positive. Another bonus - in the movie Mia's father is dead but in the book he is alive. I don't know why they killed him off in the movie but he adds a nice dynamic to the books.

Overall they were a fun easy read and they were entertaining.

[Henny Rachmawati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baca Princess Mia (the last this series) pas kuliah semester 7, padahal saya mulai mengikuti ini dari smp kelas 1 hahaha.. buat anak2 cewe saya sangat rekomendasiin buku ini, well meskipun tokoh Mia ini orang Amerika but she had different mind, novel ini genre comedy roman tapi ngga menye2, banyak hal bagus yang bisa kita dapetin di novel ini, karena ini saya baca dari smp smp kuliah bisa dibilang buku ini banyak menginspirasi ..

[Rebekah Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much. The movies are terrible but the books are so funny. I have read them over and over since I was a teenager. Meg Cabot is so clever. Some of my most favorite books of all time.

[Ekmef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Verschrikkelijk slecht geschreven, echt een serie voor Amerikaanse tieners. Bij tijd en wijle erg aangrijpend en opeens heb je alle tien de delen uit. Aanrader voor als je hersenloos vermaak zoekt en toch ook een beetje bij je geek-roots wilt blijven...

[Pratibha Gopalakrishna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ummm no.... I remember reading this book till the 3rd part in my school days and I thought of finishing it.... But omg, the story just drags and drags.... I did not like how Mia couldn't even come to a decision about Michael... The movies were much better...

[Emilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just the first few but i have read all of them they are funny!

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved all of them. though Meg Cabot is not the princess of Genovia (i think) she seems to tell the story as if she is, right on, Meg!!

[Tanya Nadeem · Rating 3 out of 5]

gr8 books

[Amina · Rating 5 out of 5]

All eight books are really great, I just hate it wen Michael goes away and Mia starts goin out wiv the-boy-who-hates-sweetcorn-in-his-chili <<< I think that's the name!

[Evi Karlina · Rating 3 out of 5]

frankly, i haven't read the 8th!
i read the series during my 3 years-high school-time.
it's a very cute story!
love lily moscovits, a lot!

[Christy Tsang]

looking for seventh book >.<
nice, good read. learn a few new words from Lily (:

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect for the teenage mind

[Frangipani3412 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is a really good book and it has a funky story line!

[Jess Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this series it is really funny, sweet and sad all at the same time, a perfect rom-com series

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really hate every single book in this series--they all read like an idle 1997 IM chat session between two 13 year-olds. No matter how old Mia gets it's still the same tone, no growth or maturity.

[Kate.barnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's fun and enjoyable reading! Perfect for a nice weekend read! It's a pity that the series has come to an end...