With Love from Spain, Melanie Martin (Melanie Martin Novels) (Paperback)

by Carol Weston (Author), Marci Roth (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6--Melanie is back in her third adventure as she and her family vacation in Spain. The 11-year-old reveals her trials and triumphs in her diary, scattering goofy poems and the pronunciation of Spanish words throughout. Her brother, "Matt the Brat," is a source of both entertainment and exasperation with his bathroom humor, and Melanie is worried about her parents as they spend time with her mother's old flame. Despite her needless anxiety, she discovers that Antonio has an attractive, 12-year-old son, Miguel. The Martins attend a bullfight in Valencia, explore museums in Madrid, and enjoy flamenco dancing in Seville. Along the way, Melanie develops a crush on Miguel, who travels with them to several sites, and must deal with the pain of saying good-bye at journey's end. She is a likable, realistic character, and the book contains a lot of humor and drama. The diary confessions ring true, and fans of her previous novels will enjoy this sequel, although new readers could easily get into the story. A great choice for those who enjoy diary-format fiction or funny stories about growing up.--Alison Grant, West Bloomfield Township Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. Readers who have been to Italy (The Diary of Melanie Martin) and Holland (Melanie Martin Goes Dutch) with spunky Melanie, her pesky brother, "Matt the Brat," and her art-loving parents, know they are in for another thoroughly enjoyable adventure abroad. This time the family accompanies Dad on a business trip to Spain during Melanie's fifth-grade spring break. Melanie's mom is looking forward to seeing an old boyfriend, Antonio, and Melanie the worrier is already imagining the worst. What Melanie never imagined is that she would fall for Antonio's handsome son, Miguel. As with the two previous novels, the story is told partly through Melanie's delightful diary entries and partly through her lively first-person narration. Weston does a great job of giving Melanie an authentic preteen voice, including Melanie's comments about her gross little brother, and her whining at her parents about visiting yet another museum. Her greatest feat, however, is expertly weaving loads of history and art, as well as Spanish words (with pronunciations), throughout the text. Lauren Peterson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (April 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440419727
• ISBN-13: 978-0440419723
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #715,326 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melanie made me a fan of reading, February 16, 2005

By	Melanie J. "Have a bengal day" (Michigan but my heart is in Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Love from Spain, Melanie Martin (Melanie Martin Novels) (Hardcover)

I used to hate reading. My mom would make me read every day. Then she bought me the Melanie Martin books. I can't put them down. I read them over and over again. I even started my own diary just like Melanie.

If you have a little girl who hates to read like I used to then buy them the Melanie Martin books and they'll be totally hooked.

Cya,
Melanie a HUGE fan of Melanie Martin books!!!!!!!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Oh-lay "and a whole lot more!, April 26, 2005

By	Christine Louise Hohlbaum "award-winning auth... (near Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews

Carol Weston has proven once again that she can entertain and educate at the same time. Her latest children's book, With Love From Spain, Melanie Martin, provides an amusing linguistic travel adventure for kids ages 8 and up. Adults will chuckle and relate to the main character of Melanie, who feels the pain and confusion of first love while filling her senses with the compelling Spanish landscape.

The Martin family band together for a two-week Spring break vacation as seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Melanie. The author offers her readers a consistent, even tone throughout the book. Melanie's sometimes childish, sometimes teenage view of the world sets the stage for all that the Martin family experiences. From art museums to foreign cuisine, the author takes the reader with her wherever she goes. An additional plus to the book is that she phonetically spells the Spanish words that the fictitious Melanie learns. I found myself saying some of the words aloud and learning quite a few things along the way. An appendix of all the foreign words Ms. Weston used would have been an added benefit to the book.

You can almost smell the musty old four-hundred year-old paintings and taste the fresh pescado in the various bars and outdoor restaurants in which Melanie and her clan dine. One of my favorite lines in the book comes in the section "Angel's apartment, incredibly late". The author writes: "Spaniards don't believe in bedtime. They believe in nighttime." The cultural differences are fascinating to the reader, made all the more real by Melanie's enthusiasm and joie de vivre.

Luckily, Ms. Weston does not harp too long on the lovesick side of Melanie which could, to the adult reader, have become tiresome fairly quickly. Nonetheless, the reader is satisfied with the outcome of Melanie's relationship to the Spanish Migue who is 1 ½ years her senior. Readers will be relieved to know that they can read more about Melanie and Miguel in the fourth book in the series: Melanie in Manhattan.

With Love From Spain, Melanie Martin will make you want to take your kids on a European adventure of your own, no matter where you live in the world! I highly recommend the book for its witty, yet educational quality.



Christine Louise Hohlbaum, official SAHM expert for ClubMom, award-winning American writer and author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff (2003) and SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe (2005), lives near Munich, Germany with her husband and two children. Visit her Web site at http://www.DiaryofaMother.com.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Book Ever, April 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

With Love from Spain Melanie Martin is written by Carol Weston. The book is about Melanie Martin and her family's vacation; her mom Miranda and her dad Marc have some business in Spain so they bring their daughter Melanie and her son Matt with them. While they are there they make plans to see Miranda's old boy friend from Spain and his son Miguel, and Melanie meets Miguel's cousin.
I like the book With Love from Spain Melanie Martin because it's about a girl I can relate to. For instance Melanie is ten and I'm ten; she's in fourth grade and I'm in fourth grade. She keeps a travel diary just like I do and we both travel a lot. I also like the book because Carol Weston includes interesting facts in the book. For example, Picasso painted the same painting many times in many different ways and they're all hanging up in a museum in Spain. I recommend the book for readers age 9 to 15.

Ciao, [ch-ow]
Carner Round