From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess (From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, #1)

by Meg Cabot

[girlinthepages]

If you’re a follower of my blogs and reviews, you probably know that The Princess Diaries series is my favorite contemporary YA series EVER. It was my first and my most formative, and I fangirled so hard when I finally met Meg Cabot in person this year. So at her signing I picked up the first two books in her new Princess Diaries spinoff series, From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, because I will do anything and read anything to be back in Mia’s world. Luckily, my first foray into Middle Grade in several years did not disappoint, and I basically binge read both of the first books in the series back to back, and loved every minute of it.

The first book in the series, From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, almost feels more like a novella than a novel. If you’ve read Royal Wedding, all of the events of the books take place in that novel, this time they’re just old from the POV of Mia’s younger half sister, Olivia Grace. I loved seeing how Olivia went through what Mia did (although two years/three grades younger) and the similarities and differences in their reactions (they both feel a bit like outsiders, however Olivia pretty much embraces her fate whereas Mia completely freaked out). I also loved seeing how Olivia’s dynamic with Gradmeré is so different than Mia’s (they get along much better) and the drawings sprinkled throughout Olivia’s notebooks remind me of the lists that Mia was so often including in her own.

Overall: I have SO MUCH love and for this book, and it brought on SO MUCH nostalgia for me. I’m so excited, because I hope that this series can introduce a whole new generation of readers to Mia’s series and will possibly keep the hope for more Princess Diaries books alive and well.