Title: Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess: Bridesmaid in Training
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 978-1-4472-9248-7
Which girl doesn’t dream of becoming a princess at some point in her life? Olivia Grace is actually living the dream.
Olivia’s half-sister, Princess Mia Thermopolis of the fictional kingdom of Genovia is getting married and it is up to her to help plan a perfect wedding. Only a week away, it seems to be a disaster in the making — Mia and her Grandmère (grandmother) ‘disagree’ on the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses, iguanas have invaded the palace garden and Olivia still feels like a fish out of water grappling with the ropes of royal protocols.
Olivia must join the Royal Genovia Academy as part of her princess training. She fears she may become the first in her family to flunk out of the Academy. She has to hold her own at the school where she rubs shoulders with other princes and princesses of the world. She has her moments of insecurity like any pre-teen, contending with her jealous cousin Luisa who tries sabotaging her efforts and her blossoming friendship with the handsome Prince Khalil. And above all, Olivia wants to make sure that she is the best bridesmaid ever.
Bridesmaid in Training is the second book in the series written and illustrated by Meg Cabot, author of the best-selling The Princess Diaries series. It strikes a chord with youngsters who have a hard time fitting in with new friends. As Olivia learns, all’s well that ends well.
Excerpt:
I’m not saying that everything is perfect, of course. Nothing is perfect, not even being a princess and having people love you and living in a palace in the Mediterranean with orange trees outside your bedroom window.
Like right now, for instance, Grandmère and Mia are having another one of their fights. (Sorry, I mean disagreements. Grandmère says royals never fight. They have ‘disagreements’.)
This disagreement is about Mia’s royal wedding, which is exactly one week away. ‘No, Grandmère,’ Mia was saying. ‘I told you before. No purple.’
‘But purple is the colour of royalty, Amelia. And it’s a royal wedding.’