My Meg Story

As you can see by the button on the right I have been participating in the ton of fun that the Meg-a-readers Blogathon was. That's why last week I tried to devour as many Meg- books as I possibly could and it's also why today I want to share my very personal Meg Story with you!

Just like many girls my age I caught my first glance of Meg and her magic ( :) ) when I was about eight or nine years old - through the Princess Diaries movie with Anne Hathaway. Back then my pink, princess-addicted self became obsessed with the DVD we had. It was scratched so that the movie stopped every few seconds or so, but that didn't keep me from watching it over and over again. Also, that was the time I became convinced I was adopted. You know, because it was possible to find out you were a princess. I'd just have to wait until I turned fourteen.

Things changed a lot even earlier, though. At age thirteen I was pretty sure I'd never be a princess. I was short. I wore braces. I couldn't control my black, super curly hair. And Harry Potter had just ended so that the one world that saved me from my own drifted further away with every day that passed.
Then came Meg. Or, more accurately, my best friend suggested her books to me which I refused to read because the covers were cheesy, I knew the story by heart (hello! I'd seen the movie a million times back in third grade!!!) and noone - noone! - could ever replace JK Rowling.

Three months later I finally agreed to read the synopsis. And I was hooked. And I bought the first three books. And then I bought the fourth book. And then I was broke. And then I sat my foot in a library again after avoiding them for almost a year (due to my grief over the ending of the Harry Potter era). And I read the rest of the books - eagerly awaiting the ones that were still to come.

Why  I loved them so much, you ask? Well, I found Mia and her friends. People who - like me - were convinced they were freaks. Outcasts in highschool, loners, losers. And still, although every failed math test and every encounter with their unreachable crushes seemed like the end of the world they still kept going. And Meg told their stories in a way that cheered me up, that kept me believing that someday, sometime my life would be exactly what I wanted it to be - just  because I had the strength.

And by knowing about this strength - it became real. I started seeing my dreams come closer just because I knew it was up to me to make them come true. And I started working. On my grades in school. On my appearance. But most of all : on my confidence.

I started reading Meg's blog anytime back then and that weekly dose of Meg's writing kept my motivation up.

(among other stuff she posts awesomeness like this!)

So, I  already was an avid reader when I discovered Meg's books. Unlike with many others Mia, Samantha and co did not make me love books. But they made me love life more. They dragged me through tween - hood because there was no other way out than through and with those strong heroines by my side it wasn't even that bad. After all these years I still don't know how she does it. The cheering-me up part, but I think it has a lot to do with not taking life and yourself so seriously. With having fun. With seeing the good sides instead of the bad.

Today I don't read as many of Meg's books anymore. However, it's those moments when I feel like I will never be good enough or that the whole world hates me or that school is the worst place on earth I will still grab a book of Meg's - most certainly a Princess Diaries book - and it will remind me that it's okay. And that everything will be okay.