Book review: Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess by Meg Cabot

C'mon, you can admit it, you wanted to wake up one day and discover you were royalty. This would lead to you getting whisked away in a fancy car, to a gorgeous palace full of cool clothes, hundreds of rooms, and a library full of books with secret nooks to read in.

Just me? I don't believe that for a moment. And luckily Meg Cabot will back me up on this. Her Princess Diaries series has already been phenomenally successful, and now she's turned to a slightly younger audience with a new series, starting with Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess.

Olivia Grace is completely normal, living with her aunt's family, going to school everyday, and hanging out with friends. Until one day, she discovers her half-sister is Princess Mia Thermopolis (yes, from The Princess Diaries). Olivia is thrust into life as a princess, but that doesn't mean her old life is behind her, as she soon discovers.

Cabot has created a really likeable, relatable character in Grace, who is smart, funny and talented - she loves to draw, and Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess is full of illustrations, drawn by Cabot, that add an amusing and casual edge to the book, as well as letting us know a bit more about Grace. Cabot presents Grace as a normal teenager, one who is confused when someone she thinks is a friend turns on her, and one who gets excited by every new experience.

Just like The Princess Diaries, Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess is appealing because of the friendly tone, and the fun at the centre of it. That doesn't mean the book doesn't have a serious side. Cabot touches on death and grief, on crime, betrayal, race, and on what it means to be a family, but the way she does this isn't heavy handed, and I think is appropriate to the age group this book is for. Young teenagers won't feel patronised or talked down to, because this book is honest and forthright, without being an issue book, and, to use the word again a number of times, it's fun, fun, fun.

•Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess is out in the UK on May 21, 2015.

How I got this book: From the room of books at work.

Book review: Missing - Missing You by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is a genius writer whose characters always have a distinctive voice, and who feel like they could be your best friend - from Mia Thermopolis to Heather Wells.

The Missing series, geared at the slightly older end of the teen market, is no different. I picked up the first couple of books in the series years and years ago, and saw Missing You, the final book, in the library a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't resist finding out how it all ended, and despite having not read the series for years, I slipped right back into the world Cabot created within the first few pages.

Jessica Mastriani was hit by lightning while walking home, and suddenly she started having dreams about where missing people could be found. After the government got involved, Jess was sent to Afghanistan to help fight the war on terror. Now she's back in America, her powers gone, trying to live a normal life.

Until ex-boyfriend Rob Wilkins shows up and asks Jess to find his missing younger sister.

Missing You is a combination of teen love story, crime novel and a story about healing. Cabot uses the tool of Jess finding Rob's sister to show us a variety of things - Jess's discontent with her life as it is, how Jess's older brother is doing, her mum's attitude towards her life, and of course the impact her powers have had on her and those around her.

I love Jess as a character - she's brave, independent and clever, and pushed to help others even though she's been hurt in the process before.

The crime plot, for want of better phrasing, dealt with some very, very dark issues. Cabot doesn't go into much detail, and handles the storyline delicately, while also keeping the tone of the novel consistent throughout. Some may think that's not appropriate for the subject matter at hand, but I felt the voices she conveyed seemed authentically teenager-y (not a word, I know).

Overall, Missing You is a great ending to the Missing series, and fans of Cabot will love it. Those who don't know her writing would do well to start with this series.

How I got this book: From the public library.