Kevin Major St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada E-Mail

Diana My Autobiography
ISBN 0-770-42702-2, Bantam Seal, $4.99

	The Story:	This is the story of Diana, in her own words. Not the Diana, but a spirited girl of eleven living in St. John's, Newfoundland. She was born near the time of the famous royal wedding of Diana and Charles, so her parents named her after the princess. She has been obsessed with royalty ever since. During the summer of 1992, her reading of Andrew Morton's book about Princess Di leads our Diana to start writing her autobiography. Although she fantasizes about marrying a prince, Diana has to deal with the reality of everyday life. The one bright spot is the boy from England who moves in up the street. His biggish ears are no deterrent to Diana falling hopelessly in love, with heartbreakingly funny results.
Reviews	Atlantic Books Today	"A subtle, thoughtful chronicle of a young girl's coming of age... witty and wonderful."
	Quill and Quire	"You can always count on Kevin Major to try something new. (Diana's) freshness and strong sense of self will appeal to readers with a sense of humour.
	Evening Telegram	"This is excellent reading, and we find the story interesting largely because the characterization is so well done and the situations so hilarious. There is no doubt that it can be recommended without reservation to readers of all ages."
Shortlisted		Silver Birch Award
Excerpt		My mother had an even closer connection to the Royal Family (which is only natural, since she is from the United Kingdom, by reason of her birth). While living in Australia in 1954, she and her older brother went with my grandparents to Perth for a Royal Visit. My grandparents owned an expensive car and it was caught up in the Royal Parade and they were all mistaken for the Royal Family! That was because my Gran and Granpa looked rather like the Queen and Prince Philip, and my mother and her brother are almost the same age as Anne and Charles, and plus my Gran was so very good at doing the Queen's wave. It must have been a very exciting time for them. The crowd all waved back with their little flags. I race to find my brother sitting at the computer, erupting with louder and even more obnoxious laughter. I push myself in front of him and wrap myself over the screen. "C'mon, let me see. C'mon!" He tries to push me out of the way. I'm not about to be budged one inch. "It's private!" I scream at him. "Now get out of here!" "Have you got Dad's permission to use his computer? You know he has a fit if you don't ask." "Yes! Now get out of here!" The screaming finally gets to him. He stands up. "Okay! Okay! Cut the vocals." I quickly save what I have written, then exit WordPerfect. Jimmy is slinking in for another look just as the words disappear from the screen. "Gullface," I call him, but he doesn't even notice. "What are you writing, little sister?" I glare at him. He know how much I hate those names he uses on me. "I'm not telling you." "I'll find out, man. I'll just search the file list till I come up with it. You won't be able to stay in this room forever. You'll have to go to the can." I know he would do it, too, the pain. And since the file name is "Diana", I know it won't take him long. I stand there wishing something awful would happen to him. After a few minutes of him sitting in the chair, making all his stupid rap noises, I come out with it. "It's my autobiography." "Your what?" He laughs. "You heard me." "You're putting me on, man. No kid your age writes an autobiography. You gotta be really hard up for something to do for the summer. We've been out of school for four days. Call up Marlene and go drool over pictures of boys or something. Like girls are supposed to do." "Don't be such an absolute idiot. I'll do what I want. You're not the boss." "Mom and Dad left this dude in charge," he says, tapping his puny chest. "They did not!"