I have the utmost respect for Meg Cabot, because she has made me laugh SO often. The Princess Diaries have such a great voice and I love how geeky everyone is. All American Girl had a really compelling romance and a fun, surprising story.

But Teen Idol doesn't quite do it for me. I think Cabot's speciality is making fantasies come true (you are really a princess! your boyfriend is the president's son and you're a national heroine!) -- but in this case, the fantasy (a movie-star is your friend!) is just not as compelling as the others, maybe because the star doesn't come across as a real person -- or maybe because the characters are less specific in general.

For example, Jenny is the friends-with-everyone good girl, and her best friend is a drama queen. Whereas the characters in Princess Diaries don't fit into cliché slots like that.

But maybe the trouble that having a movie-star as a friend wouldn't actually be that fun. Yeah, she gets to ride on a motorcycle and have paparazzi bother her --- but that's about it. Nowhere near as fun as being a national heroine and having a hottie white house boyfriend.

Hm.

It's still better than a lot of wanna-be Meg Cabot books. My favorite part is how they have to sing "As Long as He Needs Me" in show choir (it's a song from the musical Oliver) and when the words go: "I'll cling on steadfastly," they all substitute "I'll Klingon steadfastly."

To Klingon, as a verb. What could it mean?
Whatever. Thinking about it makes me giggle.