Forever Princess

The Princess Diaries wraps up in a series finale certain to please the legions of Princess Mia fans. Cabot shows off her singular ability to retread her story lines while leaving audiences breathless to get to the last page: Mia will be certain that this time she’s sunk, for real, and oblivious to what is writ large to everyone around her. Here she copes with the pressures of prom (J.P. hasn’t asked her), graduation and college acceptances (she’s lied through her teeth about them), not to mention her 18th birthday and a party orchestrated by the imposing Grandmère. And why doesn’t anyone want to publish her pseudonymous romance novel, Ransom My Heart ? (Brief excerpts are tossed in, and absolute devotees can polish off the entire work; see Fiction Reviews, p. 32.) When former boyfriend Michael returns from Japan with his revolutionary medical technology a complete success, Mia is where readers love her: insecure and self-deprecating. By now, however, she understands that being royal means “always being the bigger person, and being kind to others”—and she can act accordingly. A character like this deserves the happy ending Cabot virtually guarantees. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)