Saturday, June 26, 2004

Take a vacation to the Netherlands

Wishing you could take a trip this summer? The title of this book just makes me smile. Melanie Martin goes Dutch: the private diary of my almost bummer summer with Cecily, Matt the Brat, and Vincent van GoGoGo by Carol Weston, 2002. Melanie's mother has a grant to study Van Gogh in Amsterdam for the summer and the whole family gets to go along. Melanie's diary of their trip is a fun read. Travel disasters such as lost luggage, an annoying little brother, and a fight with her best friend are not what she imagined her vacation would be like. Melanie is reading Anne Frank: the diary of a young girl. As events unfold on their trip Melanie finds herself empathizing with Anne. Her visit to the Secret Annex is very poignant.

I loved "hearing" the Dutch phrases (complete with pronunciation,)smelling the food and seeing the sights through the eyes of a character who is the same age I was when I lived there. This is a very funny book. The presence of Anne in the background of the story gives the story a sweetness beyond the humor.

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