Princess or Bust?

Every little girl seems to be enamored with princesses. It seems only natural the whole "princess thing" will would continue as they grow older. Of course, if you begin referring to cliques as princesses the term may not be held in such high regard for long.

“Diary of a Would-be Princess”

By Jessica Green
For ages 9 - 12
This "school" story follows Jillian, a fifth grade girl in a small Australian town. “Diary of a Would-be Princess” has potential, but the pacing and coloquial Australian dialogue drag it down. It has some highlights worth reading, but the rest falls flat. Rated 2.5 (cliques, adolescent relationships, procrastination)

What appears to be a great new book for young girls about how to deal with life, relationships, and school turns out to be only mildly interesting. The story follows Jillian James, a fifth grader in a rural Australian town. Written as a journal, everything is told from Jillian’s perspective, aside from a few notes from her teacher. The journal offers an interesting look at a girl who begins the year wanting to be in the popular “princess” clique, but throughout the year develops group of friends, mostly male outcasts, that are uniquely her own.

The pacing is slow and the Australian slang can be difficult to decipher at times. Jillian has a nice flare for humor and her character is well developed, but the supporting cast remains a little flat. Unfortunately, by the time Jillian makes her climactic and thoroughly entertaining speech on the virtues of procrastination, most readers will have put off reading this book until later in the summer.