Sixteen is the magic number Mia doesn't always have the best luck with parties, so even though it's her sweet sixteenth, she doesn't want a birthday bash. As usual, Grandmère has other ideas, and thinks a reality TV special is just the thing in order to celebrate royally. The whole scheme smacks of Lilly's doing -- Lilly, whose own TV show is still only limited to local cable viewers. Will Mia be able to stop Grandmère's plan? Will her friends ever forgive her if she does stop it, since it involves all of them taking the royal jet to Genovia for an extravaganza the likes of which would turn even Paris Hilton green with envy? Why can't Mia get what she really wants: an evening alone with Michael? With a little luck, this sweet sixteen princess might just get her wish -- a birthday that's royally romantic.

Princess just want to have fun This spring, Mia's determined to have a good time, despite the fact that the student government over which she presides is suddenly broke. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) Grandmère has an elaborate scheme to simultaneously raise money, catapult Mia to theatrical fame, and link her romantically with an eligible teen bachelor, not her boyfriend. It's no wonder that Michael, the love of her life, seems to think she's a psycho, or worse: not much fun. Is it possible that Mia, soon-to-be star of the stage, president of the student body, and future ruler of Genovia, doesn't know how to party?

Sixteen is the magic number Mia doesn't always have the best luck with parties, so even though it's her sweet sixteenth, she doesn't want a birthday bash. As usual, Grandmère has other ideas, and thinks a reality TV special is just the thing in order to celebrate royally. The whole scheme smacks of Lilly's doing -- Lilly, whose own TV show is still only limited to local cable viewers. Will Mia be able to stop Grandmère's plan? Will her friends ever forgive her if she does stop it, since it involves all of them taking the royal jet to Genovia for an extravaganza the likes of which would turn even Paris Hilton green with envy? Why can't Mia get what she really wants: an evening alone with Michael? With a little luck, this sweet sixteen princess might just get her wish -- a birthday that's royally romantic.

During the days before her sixteenth birthday, Mia records in her diary her fear that her grandmother and friends may be planning to throw an extravagant Sweet Sixteen party.

Poor Mia Thermopolis. Not only has she made a total ass of herself with J.P. (a.k.a. the Guy Who Hates It When They Put Corn in the Chilli), trying to prove that she's a super-chilled party girl. She's also bankrupted the student council. Way to go, Princess. Just as Mia's scared that she's lost Michael AND a ton of money, Grandmere steps in with a fundraising plan. She's going to stage a musical in front of the world's hottest celebs - and the star will be none other than Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo! PRAISE FOR MEG CABOT "There is a school of thought that says reading should be entertaining, and this is exactly what Meg Cabot produces for us: fun. She is the master of her genre; she is the George Bernard Shaw, if not the George Eliot of [her genre]." Publishers Weekly "Cabot has . . . an off-the-wall sense of humor that will have readers laughing out loud and a knack for creating fully realized characters that readers will miss when the story ends." Booklist

That is, it usually means those things. But when you're Princess Mia, nothing happens the way it's supposed to. For one thing, Grandmère seems determined to prove that boy (or Michael, as he is commonly known) isn't the right one for the crown princess of Genovia. And Mia isn't having much luck proving otherwise, since Michael has a history of being decidedly against any kind of exploitative commercialization (Valentine's Day, as it is commonly known). Boris can declare his love openly to Lilly, and even Kenny comes through with a paltry Whitman's Sampler. So why can't Michael give in to Cupid and tell Mia he loves her—preferably with something wrapped in red or pink and accompanied by roses—in time to prove he's Mia's true prince?