Princess Lessons (A Princess Diaries Book)
Meg Cabot entertained thousands of readers with her Princess Diaries  series about a somewhat awkward teenage girl from Manhattan who  discovers that she's actually heir to the throne of a small European  principality. In this princess-pink guidebook, the unlikely royal Mia  Thermopolis informs her fans that if she can be a princess, anyone can--with the help of a few princess lessons, that is. (Of course, she  honestly doesn't know why anyone would want to when they could lead a  perfectly normal life.) This how-to guide for princesses-in-training--written in the voices of  Tina, Grandm&#xE8;re, and other characters from the series--is surprisingly  applicable to daily, non-royal life. While it is peppered with  princess-specific advice (such as how to perfect a curtsy), it is not  quite the spoof one might expect. In the Beauty section, for example,  the manual emphasizes confidence, minimal makeup, and hygiene. In the  Etiquette section, we learn not to slouch, shuffle, skip, or saunter.  Readers will find polite e-mail protocol, musings on popularity, five  easy ways to save the planet, and even Lily and Mia's list of movies in  which characters achieve self-actualization. Chesley McLaren's comical,  artful illustrations reflect the tongue-in-cheek tone of this fairly  common-sense manual for surviving Polite Society. And remember:  "Throughout history, princesses have been remembered not for the waist  size of their 501s, but for the good deeds they performed when they were  on the throne." (Ages 10 and older)--Karin Snelson