My name is Mia Thermopolis. I'm fourteen years old and I live in New York City. I live in an apartment in Greenwich Village, on the west side of the city. I live with my mom, Helen, and my cat, Fat Louie. My mom is an artist. She paints pictures. I'm a freshman - a ninth grade student at Albert Einstein High School. My best friend is Lilly Moscovitz. Lilly isn't pretty but she's very smart. She is interested in politics and ecology. Lilly writes reports about the people of New York and their problems. Then she makes films of her reports. She has her own TV show - Lilly Tells It Like It Is. Lilly's mom and dad are doctors - they're both psychoanalysts. Psychoanalysts find out about people's feelings. Lilly has an older brother named Michael. My parents never got married. They stopped loving each other before I was born. Fourteen and a half years ago, they broke up their relationship. My parents' relationship ended, but they're still friends. My dad doesn't live in New York. He lives in a small country called Genovia. It's near the border of France and Italy. My dad is an important person in the government of Genovia. I visit my dad every Christmas and summer. I stay with him and Grandmere - my grandmother - in her house in France. I'm not very popular at school. I don't have lots of friends. And I don't have a boyfriend. No boy has ever asked me out on a date because I look strange. I look like a freak. I'm the tallest girl in my grade. I have huge feet and very curly, light brown hair. I'm also very thin. I want to look like Lana Weinberger. Lana Weinberger is in my grade and she's beautiful. She has long blond hair and big gray eyes. Lana is going out with Josh Richter. She's dating the best-looking boy in the school. Josh is really GORGEOUS! He has blond hair and blue eyes. He's six feet tall and very good at sports. He's a senior student. My mom gave me this diary. She told me to write down my feelings. I don't tell her my real feelings. That's what she says. So she wants me to write them down.