Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. Moss may have her name on the title page, but this is really Amelia's book. The feisty, make-believe nine-year-old takes on a life of her own as she writes and draws her feelings about moving, starting a new school, and making new friends (some antagonism toward her older sister, Cleo, who "picks her nose with her little finger," sneaks in as well). A colorful riot of childlike drawings and lots of hand-printed text spill every which way across the pages. Both the language and the art style are on target for the age group--Amelia is droll and funny and not too sophisticated for her years; she's also poignant and real as she longs for her "far-away" friend and takes tentative steps to find one close by. --Stephanie Zvirin
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Moss (Mel's Diner) designs this upbeat, first-person story to resemble a real diary; the cover bears the familiar black-and-white abstract design of a composition book, decorated with color cartoons by Amelia, the book's nine-year-old ``author.'' Inside, on lined pages, Amelia writes about her recent move to a new town, doodles pictures of people she meets and saves such mementos as postage stamps and a birthday candle. She misses her best friend, Nadia, but her moments of sadness are balanced by optimism-she distracts herself by drawing and by writing short stories. In appropriately conversational terms, Amelia complains that her big sister invades her privacy (``So Cleo if you are reading this right now-BUG OFF and STAY OUT''); gripes about cafeteria food (``Henna says they use dog food. I believe it!''); and jokes in classic elementary-school gross-out fashion. Readers will understand Amelia's wish to put her ``top secret'' thoughts on paper, and they'll notice that even though she's uneasy about attending a different school, she's starting over successfully. An on-target presentation. Ages 7-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Handwritten on blue-lined pages, Amelia's journal reveals her feelings about her family's move to a new town, including the misery of leaving her best friend, her adjustment to a new school, and a blossoming friendship with a classmate. The nine-year-old girl's candid comments about her older sister and her humorous captions for the childlike illustrations scattered throughout the pages will amuse readers. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Amelia is a bit smug and precocious, but then so are some of our favorite nine-year-olds. Her story is told in her own words, pictures, and handwriting in her own composition notebook (the design of the book supports this pretext). What she has to say is funny if unremarkable, but most importantly, she sounds like a real kid. Readers meet her as she moves to a new city, and follow her through her first days in a strange school with new friends. If this were an adult book, it would be labelled ``metafiction'' (or some other hip term that eventually means ``experimental''). Amelia scribbles notes in her margins about the writing process, revealing something interesting about creativity. Why not simply publish a real child's notebook? It's Moss's awareness of her material that allows her to thrust a narrative thread through the patchwork of doodles, postcards, memorabilia, and other icons of children's culture. The informality of the presentation may help demystify the writing process for others; Amelia's comments on the copyright page and elsewhere will certainly make them laugh. This is a carefully coordinated story that only seems like haphazard scribbling. (Picture book. 7+)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
