Amalia: Diary 1

California Diaries #4

by Ann M. Martin

Adjusting well to her new school, Amalia Vargas makes a new group of friends and is soon living by a new set of rules, but her life spins out of control when her boyfriend will not let her break up with him. Original.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Contemporary, Diary, Friendship

157 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yikes! This one started off slow but took a sharp very dark turn. Amalia is the first main character we haven't really met in the original BSC series. She seems like a typical teen girl. She is close to her family, has an older sister who picks on her and who she picks on. She is new to the city and school but has managed to make a few close friends and manages the band that Maggie is in. Despite not wanting to she finds herself volunteering at a women's shelter with her sister on Christmas where she bonds with a toddler named Mikey. Life seems good for her. But then there's James. James is 16 and plays guitar in the band. He also has convinced himself that Amalia is his girlfriend despite her not wanting that. He buys her an ankle bracelet with both their names on it and gets mad when she won't wear it. He yells at her if she talks to other boys especially Justin and Ducky. He hints that Ducky is gay so I don't get why he's jealous of him. Then he turns stalker. Calling constantly sitting in the driveway and leaving creepy dolls on the lawn that look like them with her doll having a knife shoved into it. Creepy and scary. The book ends on a creepy, stalkerish note. Seriously call the cops on this guy. I've watched enough true crime to know what happens next. These California Diaries sure pack a punch.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: intimate partner abuse

James is terrifying. I also like that this book shows parallels with the mother at the women's shelter, coz that makes it a bit more obvious how terrible James is. Part of me wishes there was more resolution, like James is arrested or given a restraining order or something, but this is definitely more realistic. (The big resolution, from diary 2, is that James has a new girlfriend and Amalia considers warning her of what James can do. Even that doesn't really pan out coz all through Diary 3, we don't actually see Amalia try to talk to James' new girlfriend.)

[theperksofbeingmarissa ;)]

I think this book is great for tweens and up. I think Martin does a great job introducing heavy topics like intimate partner violence to such a young age. It can happen to anyone, and there may even be some kids witnessing it at home.

[Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts off with Amalia sitting in her room during a Christmas party wrapping presents for her mom and dad. When she goes to school she meets lots of people there is James, Maggie, and so many others. They are all super nice especially James he really, really, really like Amalia. He is actually kind of obsessive over her. As the book goes on it has her and James getting more serious. Although, James thinks that Amalia is like his little guinea pig, he thinks that if she isn't always with him he will die. She starts to get scared. Read the book to find out more...
In the book I would agree that a great theme would be people deserve second changes but people should not give out so many. This relates to the book because Amalia keeps letting James come back into her life. She thinks that he deserved a lot of second chances just because he is sweet for a moment in time. James almost hits Amalia and then she is mad but then he apologizes and says certain things to make her come back. She is super nice and thinks that he deserves so many second chances just because of one thing... Apologizing.
In my opinion this book was amazing. Why? because it keeps you on your feet it keeps you connected to all of the characters especially Amalia, because I mean it is her diary. It has romance but you can also get a little suspicious during it. It really shows a lot of emotion in all of the characters. I also love it because even though it is a shorter book older audiences can have joy while reading. I also love the creative way that it is written like a girl really did write in a diary and now we are just reading it.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amalia is the new-is to the school, new to being friends with Sunny, Dawn, Maggie, and Ducky. She's also friends with James' sister, kind of, she's figuring things out socially, but James is giving her all kinds of social cred because he's sixteen and the bassist in Vanish and he's soooo cute. Or at least he's decently good looking. Amalia and Pete Lerangis are pretty chill on this point, but James is Amalia's actual boyfriend, so she doesn't have to drool at him from across the room, she can actually hang out with him and go on terrifying car rides that are definitely a form of abuse. Isabel, Amalia's sister, also has a car, so Amalia doesn't rely on Ducky as her personal chauffeur like everyone else does. On Christmas Day, Isabel takes Amalia to the women's shelter she volunteers at and Amalia is punched in the gut by all the different women, ethnically, racially, socioeconomically diverse, all living and hiding from their husbands and boyfriends together in a slightly rundown non-profit. Amalia helps out in the kids' play area and hits it off with a kid named Mikey, whose mom is away. Later on, Isabel finds out through her mildly inappropriate relationship with Mikey's mom, that while Mikey's mom was trying to visit family, her ex-husband found her and beat her severely. Then the bastard sneaks into the women's shelter and kidnaps Mikey. Amalia is devastated, and she should have James to lean on, but he's not listening to her, and he's turning into a right asshole, getting mad when she talks to any guy but Ducky, making loud implications about Ducky's sexuality, and acting like she owes him something. It's terrifying and then it gets worse. Hang-up calls. Apologizing and then doing a mood swing when she takes him back. Implying that she should be more compliant because she's Latina. Leaving a a pair of dolls with a knife through one of them on the lawn. It's terrifying. Amalia and Isabel keep it from their parents as long as they can, and when the parents do find out, they try to help but there's not much they can really do because they don't believe calling the police will help. And in a real-life corollary, Mikey's dad gets released from jail even after all the assault and kidnapping. In the end, things settle down. Hopefully, James fucks off and dies in the next book. Amalia should never have had to go through this. This book is dark, but the writing is fantastic.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the Amalia books as a kid, and I still like them now. She was the most real somehow, probably because of her writing style and doodles. Just her ups and downs and how she could be all over the place were very much like the thoughts of an actual 13 year old, and that came across really well.

I like too how this dealt with abusive relationships. How they often start out good and then change and evolve into something else over time. So that was nice to read, and I loved how she was strong enough to know when enough was enough and to say no. Also the way her friends rallied around her. Kick ass!

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit to not being super super interested in these characters because I'm not invested, but I do like the diary entry format because it speeds things along significantly and creates an easy way to get inside of the characters minds. These have a lot of teen drama (with real life issues) which is also really nice.

Small complaint about this one, which is that Dawn is off having all sorts of adventures with the Babysitters in Stoneybrook supposedly so why is she also celebrating Christmas in California? I know these aren't meant to have the best continuity, but...

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much as I love all the California Diaries characters, I think Amalia might be my favourite. (Ack, don't tell Ducky!) I love how close she is with her family, I love that she's the manager of Vanish so we still get fun garage band action, and I kind of love how dark her story is. James' mood swings? His increasing jealousy? The stuffed animals on her lawn? This series is amazing.

[Latoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, meaningful YA book.
This is one example of diary format YA books that I enjoy.
The focus in this diary is of a sensitive nature to both adults and teens, and I am happy for the way the issue was packaged. The story showed that we all need help in critical, ongoing crises. We are strengthened when we have loving, meaningful support.
The resolution is not necessarily a happy one but it is realistic.

I used to read Ann Martin's books when I was a teen. Even now as an adult with teenaged children, I want to read more of the diaries and share them with my children.

[Anne Bernards · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book! I definitely think this is for ages 12 and up. It is about a girl named Amalia who lives through daily middle/high school life. A boy gets kidnapped. An Abusive boy friend. An annoying sister. What more would you like to read?

[Rei ⭐ [TrulyBooked] · Rating 4 out of 5]

The portrayal of abuse from a loved one in this is probably the best I've ever seen in a book for this age range. While it mostly gets forgotten in later books, the slow escalation really stays true to life.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgia binge continued: I think middle/early high school students would still binge read these today. Both these and Babysitters Club books have an "episode" feel to them. Like you are reading an episode from TV or something. These are easy to read in one sitting!

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super dark. This book deals with emotional and physical abuse. Amalia is pretty likeable. This book was completely unlike other Lerangis books, thank God.

[Pollypan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good educational book on the beginnings of abuse. Donating though.

[Christina]

Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/califo...

[Meg GlitteryOtters · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amalia's storyline seems too mature for an 8th grader. Which is a lot of the point--she doesn't really know how to handle herself.

[Tara Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t stand that she called her journal Nbook. Drove me crazy. I enjoyed the dark turn it took though.

[Ashley Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the heaviest in the series at this point. On to Ducky 1!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly nuanced depiction of abusive relationships.

[Kiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the California Diaries books, I’d probably call Amalia, Diary 1 the most disturbing. This was definitely the first book I read that handled an emotionally abusive relationship, and to this day, I still think it’s one of the books that handles such a subject matter the best. The way it charts James’s possessive behavior and Amalia’s shift from being flattered to wary to full-on terrified is excellent. I’m actually really surprised how dark it almost goes, for a book that is aimed at such a tween group. This stuff I read as a kid was actually really disturbing.

As a whole, I don’t like Amalia, Diary 1 as much as some of the other California Diaries books (though I really love her second diary)—the subplot with Mikey, while clearly intended to mirror Amalia’s boyfriend situation, feels really underdeveloped, in large part because Amalia and Mikey never really connected all that much, and I’m not a huge fan of Amalia’s drawings (but maybe that’s because I’m not a big fan of comic-book style art).

But the stuff Amalia, Diary 1 does right, it does very right. Her story and relationship with James are excellent, and her dynamic with her sister Isabel is a refreshing portrayal of a fictional sibling relationship. This is a frightening and fascinating read, all the way down to its genuinely creepy ending. It’s not like any California Diaries book was ever lighthearted, but the subject matter of this one is particularly brave.

3 stars.

[Lorien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh. My. Goodness. What a ride of a book! Talk about hard to read and yet I couldn't put it down. I'm shaking. What middle grade book that wasn't Harry Potter or Percy Jackson did this to me? None. Until now.

Amalia is dealing with a grade A psychotic abusive boyfriend. Who isn't even her boyfriend the whole book. As a thirteen year old she's having one hell of a time trying to figure out her feelings and what to do.

And that ENDING!!! Oh my goodness, talk about sinister! Yes, SINISTER! Wow.

I was scared going in because I read about her second book, spoiling James in this one (though from their FIRST interaction it was obvious to me), but BOY am I glad I did! I think, going from an adult perspective, that it's so important to show this kind of relationship because 1 in 3 teenage relationships are abusive. And about 1 in 3 of my friends relationships in high school and middle school were abusive in just this way. And not all of them went unscathed like Amalia did. I think I may have to put this on a list to show to my teenagers when I have them. My mom showed me things like this when I was 12 or 13 too, just in case. And both of the guys I dated probably were abusive, but I ended it way early.

A must read, I've got to say. If none of the other books are, this is a MUST READ.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was never a Baby-sitter's Club fan, but this series which follow BSC member Dawn as she moved back to California was a perennial read for me. The Amalia books were always my favorite of the series, and re-reading it now as an adult, it mostly held up. Although it is wild that these characters are 13. 13! And in this one 13 year old Amalia is dating a 16 year old James and no on objects (until James shows his true colors as a violent, possessive jerk). I thought the subplot of the women's shelter had more of a role, but it is really just background fodder, which was disappointing.

Still, I loved books written in a diary format when I was younger and I remember trying to emulate Amalia's handwriting and language in my own teenage diary. A nice blast from the past.

[Badette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amalia is a clever and a sweet teenager! I love her! She's not afraid to show who she is. I read this all because I love the author! Martin is one of my childhood fave authors!!!!! She amazed me again with this book. The words speak out what the character's heart was trying to say. I loved the break up thingy 'cause it reflected how teenagers fall on traps like early love. I mean through this, teenagers, I suppose, will definitely realize that relationships aren't yet to be opened and tasted unless they're old enough!

I can relate to how she disliked her sister from being so superior but then again they love each other.
Her friends and family are cool and that made the book even more enticing to young readers.

[Nickcole · Rating 5 out of 5]

What drew me to this book in the first place was the drawings that went along with the writing. It made me feel like was reading someone's dairy. Well i kind of was, but you get the meaning. lol Anyways I was a young girl just starting to like guys and after reading this it made me look at things a little differently.

You go along the ride with new girl Amalia in a new town with new friends and most of a new boyfriend James. The story starts out pretty simply and then quickly James turns in psycho boyfriend and that's when things get crazy. Luckily for Amalia she is able to get away and when we leave her she is starting over and happy about it.

I just really appreciated another look at the side of "romance" for young impressionable girls. =)

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series so far! I think it is kinda cool how Amelia draws in her Diary.


I really liked this book. I thought it was one of the best ones in the California Diaries series so far.

In this book Amelia Finally brakes up with Jason (at least I think that is who it was) Or so she thought. In this book Amelia starts liking her sister and even helps out at the shelter.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, not great.
Kinda predicatable storyline. The added artwork was kind of interesting, but I don't know. I found it a little unbelieveable with the 13 y/o being allowed to date a 16 y/o who is obviously unstable..

[Makenna]

i just read it because i left my book at home in 6 grade and i got totally hoocked. i couldnt stop reading. it was really good and EASY!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great one...i feel so bad for Amalia though, the poor thing has such an abusive boyfriend.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this whole series of books. (I'm a sucker for books written as diaries). With this perticular book you can really feel Amalia's pain along with her happiness.