PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

What’s a high-school freshman to do when she learns she’s a princess? The frenzied scribblings of an American girl who discovers she’s royal continue in the second installment of the Princess Diaries. Fourteen-year-old Mia’s “diary” begins as she learns that her free-spirited artist mother is pregnant by her algebra teacher. Mia’s problems don’t end there. She’s tormented by unrequited love for her best friend’s brother, Michael, excited about mysterious e-mails from a secret admirer (could it be Michael?) and dominated by her imperious royal grandmother. When “Grandmère” forces her into a television interview, Mia babbles her mother’s secrets to the world. Worse, Grandmère insists on throwing a jet-setter–style wedding for Mia’s entirely uninterested mother. Throughout, the turmoil of high-school friendships and persistently undeveloped mammary glands plague Mia’s life. Cabot writes with a deft touch for humor as well as the convincing voice of a 14-year-old. Mia emerges as a vibrant girl who may become a good princess no matter how much she dislikes the prospect. True, young readers will deal with little more profound than the burning question of who will ask Mia for a date, but that’s what interests the target audience. Teenage girls will love it. (Fiction. 12-16)