“If people at school find out about this, I’m dead. That’s it. Dead.”

Mia has a deep fear of humiliation, and when she learns that her mother is dating her algebra teacher, she begins to spiral. Mia can’t imagine anything worse than her classmates discovering that she has a personal connection to Mr. Gianini, even if he is a liked and respected teacher. She uses this phrase again when she learns that she is a princess: She believes she might just perish from embarrassment or a sheer inability to cope with all the attention and mockery she anticipates receiving.

“You’re always going around, lying about how you feel. Why don’t you assert yourself for a change?”

Lilly and Mia both agree that Mia has trouble telling the truth about how she feels. Mia is a habitual people pleaser, so early in the novel, she decides that she wants to learn how to be more assertive. Slowly, Mia’s self-confidence begins to build, and as she faces one challenge after another as the new Princess of Genovia, she finds that it gradually becomes easier to speak her mind.

“Michael’s a senior (just like Josh Richter). Michael has gotten all straight A’s his entire life (just like Josh Richter). Michael will probably go to Yale or Harvard next year (just like Josh Richter).”

Mia introduces Lilly’s brother, Michael, by comparing him to Josh Richter. Although this is mostly because Michael is the only boy that she is close to who has anything in common with Josh, Cabot also uses this quote and its