"Melanie Martin and her Trip to Spain"
The following review was contributed by:
LILY AZERAD-GOLDMAN with the assistance of NORM GOLDMAN Spring break couldn't be more fun than with the Martin
family. Carol Weston's latest in a series of diaries With
love from Spain, Melanie Martin, once again creates
characters that have become our believable invisible
friends. Melanie is now a big girl of eleven and her brother Matt
the brat is seven. Melanie's diary candidly describes her family's whirlwind
activities, as they voyage to Spain and indulge themselves
in Spanish customs & culture. Everyone seems to go to bed at an unheard of late hour.
They thoroughly enjoy Flamencos, bullfights, fiestas and
fireworks, artwork and architecture. Carol Weston adds a delicious dimension to this fun and
funny saga- puppy love! At first, Melanie was not too
ecstatic about traveling to Spain. Her art teacher
mother, "Me Ron Dah"(Miranda) was going to meet an old
Spanish flame: Antonio. In a quirky twist, Antonio has a
cute son, Miguel. We can't wait to peek at Melanie's diary
to see what's going to happen! The novel rolls along smoothly, and confidences between
mother and daughter are tenderly presented. Sibling
rivalry continues with poop language that will delight
seven year olds. Carol Weston continues with her word wizardry. She is a
true linguist, teaching Spanish with clever phonetics,
rhymes to remember names: "El Greco- gecko" -- "Frank Gehry-
hairy." Moreover, she frequently uses pairs of words in two
languages that look or sound similar but differ in
meaning. In French we call this "faux amis," and in
English it is called "false friends." This is particularly amusing if one of the two words is
somewhat "obscene" or out of context. For
example, "embarazada" means pregnant and not embarrassed!
Melanie goofs and tells Miguel that she is "embarazada!"
Some other words sound like curse words: "azafatas,"
or "stewardesses." No doubt these plays on words will
bring laughter to many a youngster and adult alike. Move over Hermione (Harry Potter's Friend), Melanie
Martin has arrived on her magical flying diary.
Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted December 1, 2003
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