Sonderbooks Book Review of Princess in the Spotlight

Reviewed December 31, 2001.
HarperCollins Publishers. 2001. 223 pages. Ages 12 and up.
Available at Sembach Library (JF CAB).

Well, I couldn’t resist. I had to read the second volume of The Princess Diaries. It looks like the author intends to get a fairly long series going, as this second book only covered two weeks of Mia’s life, taking up where the first book left off.

Things are getting something like a soap opera. Her mother is pregnant with her Algebra teacher’s baby, she has a secret admirer, and she messes up a nationwide interview. It’s all kept light and fun, and I find myself unable to keep from reading on.

This book didn’t seem as focused and well-plotted as the first book. The first book was the dramatic story of Mia finding out that she’s actually a princess. This next book is simply two eventful weeks in her life.

Again, there’s nothing weighty or profound in these books, but they do make a fun diversion. I thought the whole book was worth reading for the gag when Martha Stewart is at a social function that Mia attends on Halloween. Mia, already dressed in a fairy tale dress, only needs a wand and crown to be Glinda the Good. Martha Stewart whips up a wand “from a bunch of crystal drink stirrers that she tied together with some ivy from the centerpiece. Then she fashioned this big crown for me out of some menus and a glue gun that she had in her purse.” So silly!

Reviews of other books by Meg Cabot:
Princess in Love (Volume III)
Princess in Waiting (Volume IV)
Princess in Pink (Volume V)
Princess Lessons
All-American Girl

For adults:
The Boy Next Door
Size 12 Is Not Fat
Every Boy's Got One

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***Princess in the Spotlight*

The Princess Diaries, Volume II

by Meg Cabot