When Melanie is 10 years old, she gets to go to Italy for a vacation with her parents. Not only that, but Melanie gets to miss ten days of school. Wow! What could be bad about that? Well, plenty actually. For one thing, her little brother Matt is part of the trip. He's six, and everybody thinks that everything he does is just adorable. Everybody except Melanie. When he slurps up his Coke, Mom just beams. If Melanie did that --- watch out! But the thing that worries Melanie the most is the assignment her teacher gives her. Forget that Melanie should just go to Italy and have some fun. No, her teacher thinks she should learn something there and make up for missing school. So Melanie has to bring back postcards to share (which is cool); she has to think about her place in the family (say what?), and she has to write a poem, with no less than 30 lines. Melanie is absolutely going to die over this one.

On the trip, while Melanie worries constantly about that poem, she also has to put up with "Matt the Brat." Since she's the oldest, she has to help take care of Matt. Double bummer! She usually spends all her time trying to avoid him. Besides, she's only 10-years-old herself, so how can she be responsible for Matt? And when Melanie finally does write her poem, everybody makes fun of it. Even Matt tells her that she's not trying hard enough to do her best. Can you believe it? As if writing 30 lines at all isn't good enough!

Along the way, Melanie learn lots of new Italian words, and that's neat; but what will she do when Mom, while practicing her Italian, orders food in the restaurant and a baby octopus shows up on Melanie's plate, staring at her eyeball to eyeball? Talk about gross! And will she ever get the perfect poem written? You'll want to read this book to see what Melanie learns --- and if she survives this trip to Italy.

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny