Maggie is a teenage girl who is like a lot of other teenagers who aren't happy with her looks. Maggie thinks that she is really fat even though she is about to disappear, so she stops eating. Besides being aneroxic, her mom is an alcoholic and she has to help her with a benefit because she can't handle it because of her drinking. Then she volenteers at an animal shelter and on top of all that she is the lead singer in a garage band. And she also contradicts herself in that by saying she can't sing even though everyone loves her singing. Then she has a huge crush on the new guitar player in her band and he asks her out on a date and bearly eats at all. Will Maggie start having faith in herself or start eating? For the answer to that you'll have to read this book and I suggest you do because you could see how a person in this situation thinks and see how she gets through her hard times.

This book is really, really good. It seemed so real to me that I just wanted to slap Maggie around and tell her to wake up or something! I read it in one day, which is what I always do with the California Diaries series books. I am really excited and can't wait until Amalia diary two comes out!

Poor Maggie. She's only a teen but is faced with problems no one ever wants to see. She's challenged with the fact she has anorexia, a devistating eating disorder. Her mother is an alcoholic and to top it all off, her father is trying to make her something she'll never be.

This story makes you realize that even having a tremendous amount of money like Maggie's family, its not all that wonderful. Especially in Maggie's case!

I can never put down California Diary books because they are so interesting! Ann M. Martin is an excellent author of this series and I recommend it to everyone! The author's got a great idea of what goes on in our minds!

In "The All New Mallory Pike" Mallory finds that boarding school is harder than she thought. Who could have counted on mean roomates that read your journals and destroy your things? But hey, there are good aspects about boarding school too. Such as her new found friends Sarah and Smita. By the end of this book Mallory is sure (and so am I)that she has made the right desision.

Lately, Mallory Pike hasn't been fiting in at school, so she decides to attend Riverbend Hall a bording school in Massachuttes. She makes 2 new friends named Sarah and Smita, but one things for sure Mallory's roomate, Alexis is M-E-A-N!!! This book is a must read even though I miss Mallory alot, so BUY IT!!!

Mallory's bags are packed, and she's ready to go... to boarding school! Even though she's going to miss her friends in Stoneybrook, Mallory is definitely ready for a change. And Riverbend Hall is a big change: no boys, no parents, and no baby-sitting. Still, there promises to be plenty of fun- if Mallory can fit in. All of the girls at Riverbend Hall have artistic talent- including Mallory's mean roommate. Mallory isn't sure she belongs. Has she made the right choice?

In Sunny Diary 1, I thought that it was a bit unrealistic. But, I also could feel the pain that Sunny(13) was going through with her moms cancer. I cried because of the way she was treating her mother. Skipping school, hanging out at the beach(instead of being at the hospital with her mom) In a way, she wasn't being treated very fairly. Her dad acting like this was all Sunny's fault, and Sunny did NOT deserve that.

I recommend this book to teenagers, but overall it IS a positive message actually, because they tell you that it is wrong to do these things, but for a young child they wouldn't be paying attention to the others just the character that was doing bad.

I read this book and loved it.Sunny is my favorite California Diaries character because she is most like me.Dawn is kind of a baby but Sunny knows how to deal with real life.I tottaly recomend this book and the one before it.

We love this book! It is so much better than Dawn, who makes a big deal over nothing! It is depressing , but in a good way. It makes you realize that your life isn't as bad as you may think!

Summary:

Sunny is depressed because her mother is ill with cancer. She starts ditching school to go to the beach and meets an older guy named Carson. she later decides to run away. To find out what happens, read Sunny!

From the author of "The Baby Sitters Club," it's a series for a pre-teen audience, written in diary format. Maggie, thirteen, enjoys both writing poetry for her school newspaper and jamming with the band, and she has an undeveloped crush on a junior. Her successful father, a movie director, has more "sophisticated" pursuits in mind for her. Maggie, then, feels stress from her family, peers and school. The issues are familiar ones that teens will identify with. It will never become a classic, but is a good book to draw pre-teens to reading. Maggie's poetry is set in a printed font, distinguishing it from the rest of the text. The packaging is attractive, a glossy cover showing a worried, mature looking teenage Maggie.

I've only read one of the "California Diaries" books before, and even that one I didn't finish. (I'm a fan of sad and serious stories, but, "Sunny, Diary Three," just wasn't my taste, i guess.) Anyway, When I picked up this book from the library, I did not expect it to capture my attention the way it did-I I got it yesterday, finished it today, and am currently looking forward to searching my library's files for more of the series.
I don't exactly know what it was about this that kept me reading...it had an interest ftactor. Maggie, a rather well-to-do girl of 13, is concerned about her grades, and is always being poushed by her father to think of her future. sHe takes piano lessons, but in this book, she gradualy gets her gaze moved to a slightly diffrent musical venue...
Now, she has a chance to do something diffrent and exititing...but will she take the risk?
I am a big music fan, so that aspect of this book realy appealed to me. Especialy Maggie's song lyrics. Some of them were pretty clever. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good read.

Maggie is the "The perfect little rich girl with perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect teeth.........". Maggie was trying to get away from being perfect. This was such a great book! California Diaries are just so real. They are written so much more mature then BSC books. I read someone's review of Maggie:Diary Two and it said "...her father is a control freak, her mom is an alcoholic, and she herself in on the verge of an eating disorder..." [anorexia] Her life seems to be getting worse wiht each book! But it's interesting to see how she deals with these problems. I have only read DAWN, SUNNY, MAGGIE and AMALIA.

I read The Secret Gerden when I was in the fifth grade. The book was a combination of realistic fiction and mystery. I was always looking for clues to explain the next chapter.I was so engrossed in the book that I read 30 pages every half an hour!
The whole plot of The Secret Garden was about a girl named Mary Lennox, an orphaned, disagreable looking, girl, who needed some action in her life. And she reached her goal. She was ten when she moved to her Uncle's house on a moor in Yorkshire. One of the housemaids, Martha, showed her around, and told Mary stories about her family that Mary enjoyed. On of Martha's brothers, Dickon, was an animal charmer and a nice, perfect boy who Mary fancyed that Mary finally met. He helped her uncover and bring to life a huge secret.This secret can not be shared with you, you'll have to find out yourself.Mean while, when Mary was sleeping at night, a childs cry woke her up. On day she investigated the noise. She found another secret on her way, a secret corrider. Will Mary find out who is screaming? If so, what should she do about it? Will Dickon and Mary succeed in bringing the secret alive?
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading exciting adventures. My opinion on The Secret Garden is that out of five stars I would give it 5 stars, because it was so fun to read, and I didn't want to stop!

The Secret Garden (book review)

Soon Kim
June 18, 2002

Do you believe in magic? If you read The Secret Garden you will experience the amazing magic, I am sure.
Mistress Mary Lennox was born in India. Her parents paid no attention to her. Mary is not loved by all, she is spoiled, gloomy, sullen, and selfish in India. Suddenly, her parents die and she goes to live with her uncle on the Yorkshire moors of England. But also her uncle is an apathetic person.
When she arrived in Yorkshire she found another person who looked like herself. He is her selfish sickly cousin Colin. Mary and Colin discover his mother's garden. They take care of flowers and trees together, and they have a great deal of fun together. Mary learns to accept that there are other people in the world, and she helps Colin. The garden's magic makes the two children's characters normal and happy through good people and the beautiful secret garden.
I wish that you would read this book; if you need to love, if your mind has been devastated, if your life is dry and boring, if you lose interest in everything, then read The Secret Garden and your mind will sprout " The word is so beautiful." I still smell many kinds of sour smelling blushful roses in the secret garden. The sweet roses are coloring my mind still ......... I love them so.

I am EAD a fifth grade student at Wadron Mercy Academy.
A sour nine year old, Mistress Mary, has just moved to her uncle's mansion in a far lonely place. She has moved here because Mary made a nasty wish that her parents and maids would die, and it came true! Now, Mary is lonly and unwanted by everyone. Mary's uncle is a widower who has one son named Colin.
Soon, Mary becomes used to this place and explores all of the gardens. She has an Irish friend named Deacon. Deacon and Mary explore all of the gardens. Does Mary, Deacon, and Colin find the magic garden that their aunt had locked up? Find out what happens to Mary, Deacon, a krippled boy Colin, Mary's mysterious uncle, and the magic garden. ... I think this book was a real page turner. I could not put this exciting book down. I highly recommend this book. It is a classic of all times! I rate this book #1 of all the books I have read. I also recommend the movie.

The First thing I want to say is that yes this is a much more realistic book than the original Babysitter's Club Series. But the second thing I want to say is that the reason I read books is to escape into a better world, not one that mirrors real life. So that is why I didn't like this one all that much. The part I don't like the most is the excerpt when Dawn says that she doesn't miss Stoneybrook and her Stoneybrook friends at all. She doesn't even miss Her real mother. Her and Mary Anne are supposed to be best friends, best friends don't just forget about each other, like Dawn does. One part of the book I do understand is the way Dawn and Jill stop being friends. I mean it would have been one thing if Jill was just acting a little immature but She was acting (and dressing) like she was in Elementary school, so I know why Dawn stopped being friends with her. I mean if all the California Diaries are like this one, I wouldn't be surprised if Dawn or one of her friends (Like Sunny, for example) ends up getting pregnant or drug addicts. Dawn used to be a good role model but she isn't any more. Read this book if you want a realistic book. But I still prefer The original Babysitter's Club Series.

I read about the California Diaries series with high hopes. That was a long time ago, and now I've come down to Earth. This book is about the former Babysitter's Club member, Dawn Schafer, who has moved to California, and is re-establishing all of her relationships with her old friends. This book is about Dawn's move to a new school, and how she and her friends, as well as the upperclassmen, dealt with it. When I initially read about the series, I was pleased that these books would reflect real life, and deal with the real problems that teens have today. When I read the first few books, however, I was slightly disappointed. This books simply don't seem like REAL incidents. There are too many realities that are screened out. Believe it or not, there ARE more problems then wild parties in the lives of teens these days, and this series doesn't reflect this.

I would reccommend this for a younger reader to whom a little bit of teenage life was to be exposed, but a real teenager would have zero interest.

"California Diaries: #1 Dawn" is very good. I like that it is in the form of a diary. Instead of just telling what happens, you get to read about it from Dawn's point of view, with her own thoughts and ideas. I originally got this book for a friend. I read it before I gave it to my friend, but didn't think I'd like it. To my surprise, it was really good. I ordered #2 Sunny and can't wait to read it. If you liked Babysitters Club, you'll love California Diaries!

I think that this is the best BSC book ever. I have been reading these books since I was a little girl. I am now in college, but I often check out the new BSC books to keep up on what is happening. I was so sad to read that the series was finally ending. The book was a very lovely good-bye for all of us BSC fans. It is definitely the end of an era, as I read the book I realized I was saying good-bye to my childhood. I had always wondered if Ann M. Martin would ever let them move on to High School. I was kind of hoping she would write about them in High School. I do, however, think it best that she has not, it makes Graduation that much more special.

Finally! The BSC graduates! In the book, it tells what happened in the years for the BSC. While that, it tells about a time capsule for the Pikes! It also has some stuff like Margo's Story, Charlie's, people who were never in other books. Also in the final book, it tells about the BSC's point of view. Like Kristy DOESN'T want to graduate.(She starts a chain reaction.)

To Ann: Your books were the best. Besides that, you wrote BSC tips. You made in the BSC Friends Forever that Mary Anne brakes up with Logan, I was happy because no offense but I was pretty much tired Mary Anne following Logan like a chiuahua. When I read about Mary Anne about the fire I was sad. You wrote things that touched us deeply. But in the BSC Friends Forever, I sensed the BSC will end... and I was right!

Mary Anne has to fix up problems with her ex-boyfriend, Logan. Claudia's worried if she'd be able to graduate at all. Stacey is stressed about her parents. Kristy is worried about the BSC. But their memories will last forever.

P.S. If you're pretty much wondering, the book you'll see is NOT the way it looks like on the 'net.

I've been a fan of the babysitters club since I was 6 years old, now i'm 16! They were the fist chapter books I read and once i started, I just couldn't stop. I read every single BSC book printed and enjoyed each and every one of them. There was something special about the last 13 however. The Friends forever issues, even though they stopped talking as much about babysitting, and they started talking more about boys and teen problems, that was perfect for me. Because I was growing, too. So it was almost like they were growing up with me. I didn't have very many friends in elementary school, so i would pretend I was one of the babysitters and go places with them. Everywhere I went, they would come with me. People would think I was crazy asking "Stacey" if she wanted a pretzel. So then I heard the horrible news, The babysitters CLub was coming to an end. The last book Ann M. Martin was going to right with my best friends in it. I was actually crying! It was like I grew up with them and now they were moving away and the only way I could see them again is if I read one of their old books. But, at least Ann made the last book the greatest book! Graduation Day brought so many tears to my eyes. It brought back memories that "we" had together. There were funny parts, sad parts, and just parts where you would just sit still and relize, this was the last BSC book, ever! This was definetely my favorite issue of the Babysitters club, and to keep the memories flowing, I started my own club, called the Baby Fun Club(BFC). We use kid kits and use a lot of the ideas that were in the books. So thank you Ann for making my life a whole lot better!

First off, I'm rather pleased about the BSC Friends Forever Series. It was about time that the BSC change. I mean, I love the BSC, but it was just the right time to start a new series that you can really relate to. The BSC members had perfect lives, but in this book, you could already see that the characters are changing. I like that. So keep up the good work, Ms. Martin!

It's a summer the BSC members will never forget. For some, it's time to leave the club. For others, it's time to make a new beginning. For others, it's time to make a new beginning. Plenty of surprises await them--boyfriend troubles, friendship feuds, tough decisions, and totally unexpected adventures. Throughout it all, one thing is for sure: By the time summer is over, the BSC will be very different...and better than ever!

I've been reading the BSc series for years, and I think that this is a great way to change the series and (hopefully) update it a little. Over time, the books seemed to become too focused on baby-sitting, and the club members didn't seem to do that much outside of that. Now we'll be able to see how they deal with kids their own age and older a little more. And not like in CD, where EVERYTHING turns into a crisis! The only thing I'm really sad about is losing all the other members of the club, expecially Abby and Jessi. We've been reading about them for years, and now to have them just abruptly leave the club is a little to unfair to readers who care about these characters. I hope that we might get a new series about Jessi's ballet school, or that Abby might rejoin in a limited basis later. I also felt like we should have had Jessi and Abby write in this book too, so we could have a better idea of their POV on these big changes in their lives. Can't wait to see what's coming up for everyone in the club. Keep up the good work, Ann Martin!

I loved this book! It was so much more realistic then the Baby-sitters' Club! There were four different teens so there are four different stories!

Mary Anne is still coming to terms that her house and all her things burned down.

Stacey has to struggle with the fact that her father suddenily dissoproves of her older boyfriend, plus the fact that her father and his girlfriend's relationship has become VERY serious.

I like these books because instead of saying "This is sooooo boring!" you say "Yeah I can relate to that!"

I'm happy that this isn't just about the BSC! You'll deafnitely see all different kinds of plots in this new series.

This is the stuff teens can relate to! Everything Changes! Thanks Ann!

Snail Mail no More is about two young teens, Tara Starr Lane and Elizabeth who are separated when one of them moves to Ohio. They were the best of friends and it was terribly sad for the both of them. In Danziger's first book in this series, P.S Longer Letter Later, the two friends must keep contact with each other by using snail mail(regular mail). But in this book their families purchase computers so they can keep contact in e-mails! Tara Starr Lane is incredibly outgoing and energetic, and loves sparkly clothes and jewels and Elizabeth likes to keep to herself and pays no attention to clothes. They are so totally different, but somehow they manage to remain friends. Read a book full of funny e'mails sad e's and regular e's. I think you'll enjoy this book!

From the beginning to its tragic ending, Snail Mail no More proves to be the perfect sequel to PS Longer Letter later.

In this fast paced book, Elizabeth and Tara* continue their communication, but this time instead of using snail mail, they're using email. The book starts off with the two friends planning to see each other before school starts. The book begins well, with Elizabeth's trip to Ohio to visit Tara*.

In Snail Mail No More, the two girls are also growing mature and start to be interested in boys. When the school year starts, they both have the similar problems with not being able to afford the best clothes and boys preblems too.

In addition, both Elizabeth and Tara* each have one personal problem that comes with life changing effects. Many teens and kids will probably be able to relate to the problems Elizabeth and Tara* have.

All teens and 9-12 kids should read this book because, even though the title doesn't make this book seem that mature, the subject it deals with are.

Snail Mail No More

Friendship is something that you should cherish, even if your 100 miles away from your best friend. The book Snail Mail No More, (sequel to P.S Longer Letter Later ) by authors Paula Danzinger and Ann M. Martin is a book that involves two girls named Tara and Elizabeth, who share a great friendship. One day Tara has to move away....can their friendship last?

Friendship has many responsibilities. One responsibility is helping on another out. That’s what Tara and Elizabeth do. When they are both in trouble, they run to their computers hit write a letter and write away! They e-mail each other about everything that goes on in their lives.

Elizabeth's parents are separated. Her dad is an alcoholic. Elizabeth has a hard time with that and can’t find the words to explain to her little sister what’s going on. Constantly, Elizabeth writes e-mails to Tara about what her dad did. Elizabeth also helps Tara out. They both can share their thoughts with each other.

Tara is about to become an older sister...for the first time! She has absolutely no clue what to do! Elizabeth on the other hand...already has a younger sister. So she has lots of experience. With both of Elizabeth and Tara’s problems they realize how close they really are. Although Tara is 100 miles away from Elizabeth, through e-mails they share a great bond.

I recommend this book to girls 10-13 years of age. If you like books about friendship READ THIS ONE!

I loved the first Friends Forever book! It was well written andenjoyible! BSC books were getting boring over time, but the newseries puts some life into the chariters! In BSC #1, the plot was just about the four teens (or back then pre-teens) starting a baby-sitting club. Blah, blah, blah.

In Kristy's Big News, you see Kristy travelling into her father's surreal life. I couldn't put the book down!

Great job Ann! You deserve high praise! I can't wait for #2!

I was really glad to see a change in Kristy in Friends Forever #1. While she IS a tomboy (so am I in fact) she should realize that IT IS OKAY to take care into your apperence.

The wedding was just wonderful. Personally, I think it's good for Kristy to have a stepmother like Zoey. She can care about her apperence, yet she still seems tough.

You don't see Kristy as an immature person as I kind of struck her in the old series. She takes charge in some parts of the book, yet she doesn't go overboard and get nasty and bossy.

Great job Ann! I think this new side of Kristy Thomas is terrific! I'll surely buy more of the books!

This book (and #2 as well) is as real as the CD books! I honestly was shocked! I was a former BSC fan, but outgrew the books and was looking for something more mature. I've read California Diaries since they arrived in bookstores in 1997, but I have to admit, I missed reading about the BSC members and was wishfully thinking that there would be a mature series on them.

I got my wish! "Friends Forever" hardly foucuses on baby-sitting at all. Instead this book was about remeeting Kristy's long lost father. It shows that the chariters have grown up and are dealing with real life! I enjoyed Friends Forever #1 very much! Keep up the good work Ann M. Martin!