Princess Diaries: The Graphic Novel - Meg Cabot

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine frizzy-haired freshman, who also happens to be flunking algebra.  

Is she ever in for a surprise.

First, her mom announces that she's dating Mia's algebra teacher. But her dad's announcement is even worse: he is the crown prince of Genovia, and guess what that makes Mia?

A frizzy-haired freshman who is flunking algebra and also happens to be a PRINCESS."

Oh, the nostalgia is real! I loved this book series growing up, so I'm thrilled that they're revamping it for a graphic novel (series, hopefully?), although I wish they had stuck with marketing it as a YA instead of middle grade. They're in high school, dealing with high school stuff...this isn't a middle grade book, it's YA.

Aside from that gripe, I loved this adaptation. I thought the insertions from her diary were all really well-timed, I appreciated the way that "chapter" breaks basically ended up being new days in her diary, and I thought all the characters were very true to the original while also giving some unique spins. For example, I'm not sure if this was an intentional response to Anne Hathaway addressing the unintentional negative messaging to curly-haired young girls due to the movie version going from Mia with curly hair = ugly to Mia with straight hair = beautiful as a result of Anne's natural hair being straight (honestly, it probably wasn't and this is just me reading into it), but I liked that Mia's transformation in the book is instead to cut her hair to a style that flatters her more instead. It's a small detail, but I liked it.

I also thought the plot flowed very well. Things progressed at a perfect pace, and I think this would hook readers and keep them interested. I know I couldn't put it down! I really appreciated the way Mia's interactions with different characters gradually shifted as she got more confident asserting herself, and I particularly appreciated the way her relationship with her grandma changed from the beginning to the end. Overall, I think this is a lovely version of this story, the perfect length, and while I probably won't be adding it to my school library, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to our high school librarians.