With Love from Spain, Melanie Martin

Carol Weston. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $15.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-375-82646-7

Series fans can discover the latest doings of favorite characters in a number of spring novels. The globetrotter returns to Europe in With Love from Spain, Melanie Martin by Carol Weston, the third of the heroine's diary-style, first-person adventures. Beyond Melanie's crush on a young Spaniard and her mother meeting up with an old flame, the book features a healthy amount of Spanish art, history and vocabulary, translated quasi-phonetically by the spunky narrator, from ""toreros (Tore Air Ohs)"" to ""caballero (Cob Eye Yair Oh).""

Featured Children's Reviews

Aubrey Hartman

Clare, the undead fox of Deadwood Forest, is cast as a monster by the local children who gather each Halloween around the forest’s edge to chant about how he “waits to feast/ On Continue reading »

Tony Keith Jr

Poet and educator Keith (How the Boogeyman Became a Poet) delivers a poignant, hip-hop-fueled collection of poetry that’s equal parts memoir, love letter, and rallying cry to Continue reading »

Randy Boyagoda

Sixteen-year-old Sabel is puzzled by tonight’s family meal, which seems to be a special spread of her and her four siblings’ favorite foods. Sickness and savagery have toppled Continue reading »

Cheryl Willis Hudson

Willis Hudson movingly exalts the power of African American spirituals in a lyrics showcase that pairs existing verses with feelings they can evoke. On the first page, a Black Continue reading »