PRINCESS ON THE BRINK: The Princess Diaries, Volume VIII
Meg Cabot
HarperTeen
Fiction
Hardcover: 0060724560
Paperback: 9780060724603
256 pages

• Read an Excerpt

Junior year seems to be very promising for Mia --- no more student body president and she still has her one true love, Michael. But what she doesn't know is how much of a disaster junior year can really be.

Mia's studies always have been somewhat of an issue for her. She can write very well, so why has the administration placed her in Intro to Creative Writing? To add insult to injury, Mia's teacher is constantly on her back about simple things, making her feel less than the writer she knows she truly is. And she also has to take Precalculus and Chemistry. But at least her friend Kenny (who just happens to like her) is in the same Chemistry class and can help her pass again this year. Lilly's boyfriend J.P. is also a classmate, but that might not be necessarily a good thing; she just doesn't know it yet.

As if things can't get any worse, Mia's best friend Lilly has decided to nominate Mia once more for student body president. Who asked her? And her new strategy leaves something to be desired. She has made Mia seem like a complete save-the-world-or-you're-going-to-regret-voting-for-me nominee. Go figure. Why doesn't Lilly just run herself?

Alas, Mia can take it --- as long as she has Lilly's brother Michael, the only boy she ever truly has been in love with. Nothing can tear them apart. When Michael tells her the news of his invention being picked up by a company in Japan, Mia is ecstatic. But what she doesn't like is the fact that he'll be going over there for more than a year to oversee production. What about her? And who cares if he's doing it for their future?

What started out as a picture-perfect school year has turned into the junior year from Hades, and Mia can't handle it. Not to mention her princess lessons, whining grandmother and uneventful days after she flies off the handle and breaks up with Michael. Who said life for a princess was easy? Things get just a tad worse when J.P. breaks up with Lilly, and Mia accidentally kisses him…in front of Michael. Is there no end to the drama? Someone throw her a lifeline, and quick! She definitely needs one.

Meg Cabot does it again with her newest Princess Diaries book. Witty, delightfully funny and real-life experiences continually draw you into the world of Princess Mia Thermopolis. Instead of giving you an unrealistic picture in which everything is perfect, Cabot does the opposite, introducing you to an ordinary teenager. Who cares that she's a princess? They have regular issues too, right? Stay tuned for more of Mia's adventures in the next installment. You won't be disappointed.

   --- Reviewed by Belinda Williams.

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