Amelia's Notebook

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.)