The Princess Diaries
讀書樂編號：5034
推介人： 黃煒棋老師
Mia, is a 14-year-old girl living in New York city with her single parent. She studies in Albert Einstein High School and thinks that she herself is a bit abnormal because every girl at this age begins their puberty and dates with boys except her. However, she enjoys her ordinary life with her beloved mother and best friend Lily. One day, his father, who is known as a politician, comes back and told her that actually he is a prince and thus she is the princess and heir of the throne of Genovia. In order to prepare her to take up the responsibility, because her father is said to be losing his virility, her Grandmere comes to have princess classes with her. Because of her Grandmere’s strictness, she fears disobeying her and therefore accepts everything she does to her for the big transformation from a normal girl to a princess-like lady. Mia is under huge pressure to face the fact of being a princess, but she cannot tell any of her friends even no for Lily because she thinks she will be considered as a freak. There are misunderstandings between them and Lily even hates to befriend with Mia anymore for Mia’s change of appearance and strange behavior, such as haircut, fake nails, wearing make-up and being absent for the shooting of Lily’s TV show. Later Mia and Tina become friends, as they share similar situation of being isolated and followed by guards everywhere. Also, Mia’s dream boy Josh splits up with his original girlfriend Lana and comes to Mia after her identity of princess being revealed. Mia is very excited to attend the Cultural Diversity Dance with Josh, but she finds out that he is only using her to stand famous in the press. Finally, Lily and Mia restore their friendship and Mia tends to be closer with Lily’s brother Michael, on whom she also has some kind of crush. I learnt that family is very important in our life. In the story, Mia lives with her mother. When she hears that she is actually a princess, she really cannot accept this crazy news. Luckily, she has her mother Helen, her closest family member in the world. Helen stands by her side and thinks of how she feels. I am sure we should cherish every moment we spend with our family members. Sometimes, we may not understand what the adults are doing or feel like being unfairly treated, like what Mia’s Dad does to her, but we should have a forgivable heart and consider their situation. We should learn to respect them and at last we will know why they do this to us. This book is suitable for young people. It is especially designed for teenage girls who are most-likely undergoing their puberty. They need real stories to find out their ways of solution. They can share the similar feelings and struggles when they read Mia’s experience. It is recommended to continue reading the series about Mia's story. Author: Meg Cabot Publisher: Macmillan Year of publication: 2001 Genre: novel, personal growth & friendship
