What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this book is part of the hugely popular chick-lit Princess Diary series. Parents will cringe with the prolific dropping of name brands, usage of teenage jargon "like" and "she was all," and discussion of first romantic encounters. There are references to sidecar drinks, flat and big-chested girls, losing virginity on prom night, and kids using the drug ecstasy. But as a character, Mia knows who she is and speaks her mind. She has strong values and respects others (including her wacky Grandmere). Parents should also know that while this book appeals to younger tweens because of the films, the princess is growing up and her teen issues are a better fit for readers 12 and up.

Families can talk about Valentine's Day -- what is this holiday about? Is it a means for card companies to earn money or are there ways to observe that can be meaningful and cost-free? Even though Mia is a princess, how is she still relatable to readers? Also, why does Mia keep a journal? Parents can point out how journaling is a process to help kids make sense of events in their lives -- a valuable tool during the tumultuous tween/teen years.

Common Sense Media Review
Hugely successful author Meg Cabot has cornered the market on writing for female tweens, having created a character that is on one hand, very relatable as a gawky high school student, and on the other, fulfilling young girls' fantasies of being a princess.

This volume in the series is also written as journal entries. In VALENTINE PRINCESS Mia is actually rereading a diary from a year and a half before her first Valentine's Day with her boyfriend Michael.

Mia's a good kid at heart with strong morals and resistance to peer pressure, but there's not much here in the way of substance or tough challenges for her to face, making her a less relatable and engaging character and this series less meaningful. Overall, this is fun fluff that -- regardless of familiarity with the rest of the series -- will be hard for readers to put down.