Written 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. 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. Gr. 3-6. Melanie Martin is excited to visit the Netherlands with her family, and thrilled that her best friend, Cecily, can come along while her mother is in the hospital. The trip is chronicled through Melanie's diary, and it's soon clear that sibling and friendly rivalry have the potential to ruin the trip for her: she suspects her parents prefer well-mannered Cecily or even Matt the Brat to her. While learning about Holland and seeing the sights, Melanie reads Anne Frank's diary and ponders the contrast between the magnitude of Anne's problems and her own. The ups-and-downs of friendship ring true, as does Melanie's desire to reconcile with Cecily without knowing quite how. Readers will empathize with both Melanie and Cecily, who has the added burden of fearing for her mother's health. The achingly real confidences in Melanie's record reveal her genuine efforts to improve, making her eventual success especially gratifying. Diane Foote Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Written 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. Carol Weston is the author of The Diary of Melanie Martin and Girl Talk: All the Stuff Your Sister Never Told You . June 15 Bedtime Dear Brand New Diary, I can’t believe it! This was the best day EVER! School is out, and I, Melanie Martin, am almost a fifth grader. 5th grade!!! Today at the end-of-fourth-grade party, everybody said my cupcakes were delicious—even Christopher. Yesterday after we baked, Mom helped me hide them on top of the refrigerator so Dad wouldn’t accidentally eat any. Why? Because last time I made cupcakes, Dad gobbled one up without asking permission—and I ended up with twenty cupcakes for twenty-one kids. The next day on the walk to school, I was balancing my cupcake tray and hoping hoping hoping someone would be absent. Trust me. It does not make you feel pro