What is essential for a princess to
live happily ever after? If you answered Prince Charming, you are correct. In
Meg Cabot’s third volume, Princess
Diaries III: Princess in Love Mia tries to connect with her Prince Charming
while trying to avoid kissing too many frogs. Like the previous volumes, volume
III is written in the format of a teenage girl’s diary, and charts Mia’s
further adventures as a princess-in-training.

To recap the story from earlier
Princess Diaries (vol.
I and II),
Mia Thermopolis is an average ninth grader growing up in Greenwich Village
until she discovers that her father is the royal prince of Genovia. Having been
left sterile by cancer treatments, Mia, his only child, is now his heir and the
next in line to rule Genovia. This announcement arrives as a complete shock to
Mia who knew her father was an important foreign diplomat, but not that he was
a royal prince! In volume I, Mia begins her princess-in-training lessons with
her Grandmere and learns to cope with her ever-present bodyguard, Lars, and
discovers the difference between real and false friendship, and that image is
not always the best indicator of character. In volume II, Mia continues her
princess-in-training lessons with her Grandmere and learns how to cope with
dating while accompanied with her ever-present bodyguard, Lars. Along the way,
she learns some harsh lessons about status seekers and discovers the identity
of her secret admirer.

In volume III, Mia continues to deal with her unique family
situation (her mom is pregnant and now married to her algebra teacher) and
struggles with the pressures of end of semester exams, her upcoming trip to
Genovia, and an unwanted boyfriend, Kenny. Grandmere is up to her old tricks
and has invited her cousin, Sebastiano, to design her gowns for her holiday
tour of Genovia. According to Grandmere, “Sebastiano is the best designer in
Genovia” however, Mia learns he is, in actuality, the only designer in Genovia.
Mia is not only suspicions about Sebastiano design abilities, but also about
his motives since he is next in line for the throne if anything should happens
to her. Mia, however, is not sure which is worse being killed by one of his
gown or being mortified by having to wear one of them. She will have the
opportunity to discover her answer when photographs of her trying on his gowns
turn up in the Fashion Section of the New York Times. If fears about Sebastiano
are not enough, Kenny, her current boyfriend has turned out to be more frog
then prince. She would like to break up with him since his kisses leave her
cold, but her avoidance of him so far has only resulted in his very loud and
very public protestation of his love for her. Complicating matters, he is her
best bet for a date for the Winter Carnival Nondenominational Dance, and worse yet,
he is her biology partner and she cannot afford upsetting him with only
two-weeks until finals. What can this poor little princess do?

Mia continues to mature as she
faces more of the common issues facing young people today. In this volume, her
relationship with her pregnant mom, her new stepfather, and soon to be new
sibling move to a back burner. She continues to confront the tough issues of
dealing with her best friend who seems hell-bent in leading her into conflict
with others, especially the school administration. She also is struggling with
the very normal adolescent issue of gently breaking up with a nice, but still
unwanted boyfriend. In most way, Mia’s issues are quite normal and young
readers can learn a lot from Mia’s successes and failures. More often than not,
her princess oriented difficulties are background and added comic relief to the
plot.

Meggin Patricia Cabot is a
full-time author. She was born and raised in Southern Indiana where she earned
a fine arts degree from Indiana University. She began writing romance novels
under the pseudonym “Patricia Cabot.” These included Where Roses Grow Wild (1998), its sequel Portrait of my Heart (1999), An
Improper Proposal (1999), A little
Scandal (2000), Lady of Skye (2001),
Educating Caroline (2001), a novella
in the anthology A Season in the
Highlands and Kiss the Bride
(2002). She has two young adult series under the pseudonym “Jenny Carroll.”
These are The Mediator (4 tittles)
and 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU (4
titles). Under “Meg Cabot”, she has
published Princess Diaries (vol. I)
(2001), Princess Diaries (vol. II)
(2001), and Princess Diaries (vol. III)
(2002). She has also begun a new series entitled All-American Girl (August 2002) and her first historical romance
for young readers is Nicola and the Viscount
(August 2002). Princess Diaries (vol. I)
was released as a movie by Disney in 2001. Princess
Diaries (vol.II) is currently in pre-production. The film rights to All-American Girl and 1-800-WHERE-R-U have already been
purchased. Ms Cabot lives in New York City.

Mia’s third volume of adventures as
a Princess is as delightful as the previous two! While there is a heavily
reliance on information and relationships established in the earlier volumes,
enough background information is provided for a new reader to feel comfortable.
I do, however, suggest reading this series in order. I highly recommend all of the Princess Diaries books to any young
princesses and to any princess want-to-be …no matter what their age! Books are
easy reading and appropriate for ages 12 and up.

© 2002 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area
of research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian
mystics.

Categories: Children