Melanie Martin Goes Dutch
Carol WestonWritten by the advice columnist of Girls’ Life magazine, this hilarious companion to The Diary of Melanie Martin finds Melanie off to Holland–with her best friend!
Dear Diary, You will never ever believe this! It is too good to be true!! Guess who is going with us to Amster Amster Dam Dam Dam? Cecily!
Since Cecily’s mom is having surgery, Melanie’s parents invite Cecily on their family trip to Holland. Melanie thinks having her best friend along will be terrific. But things don’t go exactly as expected. First Melanie loses her luggage, and soon it looks like she’ll lose Cecily’s friendship.
But Holland isn’t a total disaster. Along the way, Melanie learns to look through the eyes of van Gogh, Vermeer, and Anne Frank. Soon she discovers that being a good friend means seeing the world through your best friend’s eyes, too.
From the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers WeeklyMelanie Martin Goes Dutch: The Private Diary of My Almost Bummer Summer with Cecily, Matt the Brat, and Vincent van Go Go Go by Carol Weston provides yet another perspective on the European vacation, first visited in The Diary of Melanie Martin or: How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza. A trip to Holland turns (almost) torturous when the fourth-grader's best friend starts buddying up with her obnoxious brother.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Grade 4-6-In the summer before fifth grade, Melanie Martin records her thoughts and rhyming verses. At about the same time, her mother wins a grant to study the art of Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam and decides to take the whole family along. Melanie dreads spending the vacation with her younger brother, "Matt the Brat," and leaving her best friend, Cecily. When Melanie's family learns that Cecily's mother has breast cancer and will need time to recover from surgery, they invite Cecily to join them. At first, Melanie is thrilled, despite the anxiety they all share for Cecily's mother's health. However, as the trip progresses, she begins to resent the fact that her family seems to enjoy her friend's company more than hers. In time, Melanie learns not only about Amsterdam's history and culture, but also how to relate to others in a considerate, honest manner. Her entries are bouncy and sometimes overly gushy (as diaries sometimes are), yet convey growing sensitivity to other people's feelings. Melanie presents information in an accessible manner that sometimes borders on the didactic or merely vague. Throughout her vacation, she reads Anne Frank's diary and considers how the girl's words resonate with the world today. Children who enjoyed the humor in Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin's P. S. Longer Letter Later (Scholastic, 1998) will especially enjoy this title.
Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.