The Diary of Melanie Martin: or How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza (Melanie Martin Novels) [Paperback]

Carol Weston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2001 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Melanie Martin Novels

Dear Diary, You will never in a million years guess where I’m going....Italy! In Europe!! Across the ocean!!! I even have a passport. It’s really cool, except I’m squinting my eyes in the photo, so I look like a dork. At least that’s what my brother said. I call him Matt the Brat. You would too. Trust me....

When Melanie Martin heads to Italy on a family vacation with her art-obsessed mom, her grumpy dad, and her little brother, she has no idea what she’s in for. As she discovers Michelangelo, Italian ice cream, and poetry, she also realizes how much her family means to her. Maybe she won’t trade them in after all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

W said of this diary of a girl who travels from New York to Italy, "Weston clearly knows a 10-year-old's take on foreign customs." Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Ten-year-old Melanie Martin and her family are going to Italy for spring break. Her diary begins shortly before their European adventures start, and continues as they travel across Italy and back home again. As on many family vacations, the two kids fight, the parents argue, pickpockets strike, children go missing, new things are tried, but, ultimately, everyone has a memorable trip. Melanie's diary has an authentic ring: she grumbles about her brother, her parents complain that she is a grump, but by journal's end she has gained a maturity that often accompanies a trip abroad. Sections of the book are laugh-out-loud funny and Weston's descriptions will have readers wanting to see the country for themselves. An enjoyable read.
Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (June 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440416671
• ISBN-13: 978-0440416678
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Europe
  • #96 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > Multigenerational

More About the Author

Carol Weston writes for kids, teens, and grown-ups and has been the advice columnist at Girls' Life for 15 years. Newsweek calls her a "Teen Dear Abby," and Parenting says, "Carol Weston gets girls." The daughter of writers, Carol went to high school in Armonk (BHHS) and France (SYA). At Yale, she studied comp lit, graduating summa cum laude. In Madrid, Spain, she got an M.A. from Middlebury--and met her husband, playwright Rob Ackerman.

Her first book, GIRLTALK: All the Stuff Your Sister Never Told You (HarperCollins), has been translated into ten languages and in print since 1985. Now in a fully updated fourth edition, it's as sensible, encouraging, and "outstanding" (School Library Journal) as ever.

Carol loves being a guru for girls, but uh oh, she'd always meant to write fiction! Finally she gave herself some advice: Do it! In 2000, Knopf published The Diary of Melanie Martin, a funny novel about a traveling girl and her brother Matt the Brat. (Psst, their art teacher mom doesn't know that the kids' favorite museum game is Point Out the Naked People.)

What else? Carol and Rob live in Manhattan with two daughters and one cat. Her birthday is September 11, and she likes Boggle, Hearts, Bananagrams, skiing, walking, art museums, foreign films, dark chocolate, and good books. She thanks you for ordering her books and invites you to visit carolweston.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 10-year-old's view of Italy, June 7, 2000

By 

Xeneri - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diary of Melanie Martin: or How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza (Hardcover)

Meet 10 year old Melanie Martin, your average american kid and child travel critic . Melanie keeps a travel journal when her folks take her and her 6 year old brother Matt on a trip to Italy. Remember those family vacations you used to take as a kid? Well trust me, when you travel with Melanie, it'll all come rushing back at you.

Melanie's accounts of plane travel, Italian culture ("Almost everyone here speaks Italian-even kids"), and her goofy adventures with her family (at a museum she plays a game with Matt to "Point out the Naked People") will have you in stitches. Ms Weston is not only a funny writer, she's a mom and it serves her well in her accounts of family behaviour. This book reminds me of my own family trips when I was a kid (hey, when I was 11, my folks took me to Italy too! I can't say I appreciated it as much as Melanie did, but then maybe she should have joined us for the ride!)

Funny, breezy and filled with the easily believable dialogue of a ten year old (complete with doodles on the pages!) This is a great book for would-be travelers of all ages.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Diary of Melanie Martin, May 10, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Diary of Melanie Martin: or How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza (Melanie Martin Novels) (Paperback)

A must read with the monalisa, sistin chapel, and boots the cat. Also it has ton of poetry. The book makes your mouth water for more.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melanie Martin Strikes Again, February 21, 2004

By 

Gwynne C. Spencer (Mancos, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diary of Melanie Martin: or How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza (Melanie Martin Novels) (Paperback)

If you loved the Amelia books by Marissa Moss, you are going to go gaga over Melanie Martin and her world-class travel adventures with her family. Funny, touching, full of great details, how can you NOT love a book that has a map at the beginning? Like all the Melanie Martin books, this one encourages kids to travel widely in their imaginations and come home changed by their encounters. too bad all the adults who travel BADLY don't read Melanie before they head out! Great gift for any age Italian-bound tourist.