Project Princess

What on earth is that princess up to now?
Most princesses would prefer to spend their spring breaks in Gstaad, or some other equally unpronounceable European hot spot.
Not this one, though. Hammer in hand, Princess Mia embarks on an epic adventure for one so admittedly unhandy: along with her cohorts from school, she's off to build houses for the less fortunate. It doesn't take Mia long to realize that helping others—while an unimpeachably noble pastime—is very hard work. Will her giving spirit prevail? Will the house collapse due to royally clumsy construction? And most importantly, will Michael stop working long enough to kiss her?

Nice to see Mia doing something at least partially to help others. She is usually so self obsessed, self conscious, insecure, and selfish. I have to actively remind myself she is 14. Even so, it was obvious the author couldn't get approval to use brand names other than Dairy Queen. Everything else was off-brand, but not so far off you couldn't tell what she meant by it.

Most princesses would prefer to spend their spring breaks in Gstaad, or some other equally unpronounceable European hot spot.

Not this one, though. Hammer in hand, Princess Mia embarks on an epic adventure for one so admittedly unhandy: along with her cohorts from school, she's off to build houses for the less fortunate. It doesn't take Mia long to realize that helping others—while an unimpeachably noble pastime—is very hard work. Will her giving spirit prevail? Will the house collapse due to royally clumsy construction? And most importantly, will Michael stop working long enough to kiss her?

This was a very cute little short story about Mia's Spring Break. I liked seeing her interactions with Michael, and I liked seeing a more human side to Grandmere. It was very short, but entertaining through to the end.

I got a little bored halfway through this and put it down for a week - I didn't have any patience for Mia's silliness in this one. The rural characters were stereotyped, and Mia didn't have much empathy.

Cute little interstitial involving spring break and building a house. Nothing really exciting happened.

Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series is writing in diary/journal style which is easy and fun to read. Not standard in class material but good for the disinterested female reader who needs something interesting to capture her attention and ignite her passion for books. The film version of the first two films are also another way to pull in that attention. While a great personal read, probably not much value in the classroom.