Amalia Vargas knows she should feel lucky. She is the band manager for Vanish and her boyfriend is the guitarist, James, a sixteen-year-old high school junior. James is so into her that he can’t stand for her to be with anyone else. That should be a good thing, but what seemed kind of sweet at first is suddenly getting annoying . . . and even kind of scary. James’s jealousy doesn’t just mean Amalia can’t see other guys. He doesn’t want her giving her attention to anyone—not her friends, her family, or even a toddler she’s visiting at a shelter. When you’re thirteen, love can be tricky. But is this the kind of love that Amalia wants—and is it even love at all?
This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author’s collection.
Amalia: Diary One is the 4th book in the California Diaries, which also includes Maggie: Diary One and Ducky: Diary One.
Amalia Vargas knows she should feel lucky. She is the band manager for Vanish and her boyfriend is the guitarist, James, a sixteen-year-old high school junior. James is so into her that he can’t stand for her to be with anyone else. That should be a good thing, but what seemed kind of sweet at first is suddenly getting annoying . . . and even kind of scary. James’s jealousy doesn’t just mean Amalia can’t see other guys. He doesn’t want her giving her attention to anyone—not her friends, her family, or even a toddler she’s visiting at a shelter. When you’re thirteen, love can be tricky. But is this the kind of love that Amalia wants—and is it even love at all?
This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author’s collection.
Amalia: Diary One is the 4th book in the California Diaries, which also includes Maggie: Diary One and Ducky: Diary One.
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Overview
Amalia Vargas knows she should feel lucky. She is the band manager for Vanish and her boyfriend is the guitarist, James, a sixteen-year-old high school junior. James is so into her that he can’t stand for her to be with anyone else. That should be a good thing, but what seemed kind of sweet at first is suddenly getting annoying . . . and even kind of scary. James’s jealousy doesn’t just mean Amalia can’t see other guys. He doesn’t want her giving her attention to anyone—not her friends, her family, or even a toddler she’s visiting at a shelter. When you’re thirteen, love can be tricky. But is this the kind of love that Amalia wants—and is it even love at all?
This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author’s collection.
Amalia: Diary One is the 4th book in the California Diaries, which also includes Maggie: Diary One and Ducky: Diary One.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781453298114 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Open Road Media |
Publication date: | 03/25/2014 |
Series: | California Diaries Series , #4 |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 176 |
Sales rank: | 818,391 |
File size: | 16 MB |
Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
Age Range: | 12 - 14 Years |
About the Author
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Read an Excerpt
Amalia: Diary One
California Diaries
By Ann M. Martin, Stieg Retlin
OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA
Copyright © 1997 Ann M. MartinAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4532-9811-4
CHAPTER 1
Saturday December 20
A
Vargas
Family
Christmas
Palo City, California
Art: Amalia Vargas
Ink: Amalia Vargas
Text: Amalia Vargas
Any resemblance to persons, alive or dead, is definitely, absolutely, on purpose.
12/20
Yo, Notebook.
Merry almost Xmas.
At least you listen to me.
Sun 12/21
Dear Nbook,
I will never EVER leave you out in plain sight again. Not after today.
Isabel, if you are reading this, you are the witch sister of Christmas Present and I hope you melt into the carpet with Big Tooth Lover Boy standing over you and crying his guts out.
I have been writing in you since September, Nbook. You and I both know this hasn't been easy. I hate writing, so I draw a lot. And everything I write is so POLITE.
No more. It's time to say what's on my mind.
I mean, we're all home today and everybody's having a good time — Christmas, happy happy, whatever. I'm in my room, wrapping presents I bought for Mami and Papi. And Isabel barges in without knocking. And where are you, Nbook? Faceup on my bed, where I've left you.
"Cute," says Isabel. "You can write?"
I am boiling inside. But you know me, Nbook. I always keep cool. "It's mostly drawings," I say. "Keep your hands off."
Does Isabel listen? No. She never listens. She just has to open you up. To the Christmas picture. She sees the drawing of her and Big Tooth Lover Boy. Only Simon's teeth don't show because he's kissing her in the picture.
Now she wants to kill me.
I ask you, is this fair?
I will never understand my big sister. To me, she's Dr. Jekyll. (Or is it Mr. Hyde? Anyway, the bad one.) To the rest of the world, she's saint Isabel of the Lost Causes.
She gets Christmas cards from her old teachers in San Diego. (Do I? No. My teachers are thrilled that I moved.) She's constantly bringing home gifts from the women's shelter where she works. "One of the residents gave this to me," she says. "Just a little something for the holiday."
I want to give Isabel a little something for the holiday. A bonk over the head.
These journals are supposed to be private.
Which brings me to another point. No offense, Nbook, but why did we have to move to a place where the schools force you to write journals? We didn't have to write journals in San Diego.
Some of my classmates have been doing this since first grade. To them it's, like, ho hum, another five pages.
To me, it's torture. Already my fingers are cramping.
The worst part is, it's totally pointless, since the teachers are never ever going to collect it.
So why do I open up my inner thoughts to my nosy sister who everybody loves even though she's a thief who steals my private property?
I know why.
Because, Nbook, you are very cool.
But from now on, you stay under my mattress.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Sun night, 12/21
Maggie is rich. Not just in the way of a big house and nice stuff, but Major Money.
I mean, I've always sort of known this about Maggie. People drop hints. But I've never thought much about it one way or another. What's inside a person is what counts. Inside, Maggie is friendly and talented and unsnobby.
Tonight, Nbook, I see the outside for the first time.
I'm at the Blumes' for dinner. Dawn and Sunny are there too. The house is at the top of this canyon. It's so high up you look down into the smog. The backyard looks like they imported a small Hawaiian island and plopped it right there. The pool is huge.
We sit down to eat, and the plates look so expensive I'm afraid to touch them. But it doesn't matter because the maid takes them away and serves dinner on different plates anyway. Which seems weird to me but I don't say anything.
The maid's name is Pilar and she's Latina. Maggie says she's studying to be an actress. I wonder if she's acting when she smiles at everybody and takes orders from Mr. and Mrs. Blume.
The main course is this shrimp dish that's about the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. So I do the polite thing and compliment the Blumes on their cooking.
Well, Mrs. Blume gives me this funny, tight-lipped smile. Mr. Blume laughs and says, "It's catered." And I feel like melting into the Persian rug.
Don't worry, Nbook. Things loosen up eventually, and I end up having a good time.
But now I have a new problem. My Christmas list. My belated procrastinator's Christmas list that I shouldn't even be thinking about anymore.
Over dinner, as I listen carefully to the conversation, I pick up what people want to receive. Which is helpful in some ways, but not in others.
Okay, here's the whole thing, with my changes added (including people who weren't at dinner):
Revised Christmas Shopping List Saint Isabel (who I overhear telling Big Tooth Lover Boy she'll "die" if anyone gives her another sweater) — Return sweater. Buy earrings. Or maybe a bag of coal.
Cece — Hair stuff.
Marina — Science fiction book, not related to Star Wars or Star Trek. (Does that leave anything?)
Maggie — Oh, just something that the daughter of Hayden Blume the gazillionaire movie producer might not have. Like maybe her own private village.
Dawn and Sunny — ????? Gift friends or nongift friends?
James — ????? Boyfriend gift (cologne)? Or friend friend gift (new shades)?
To be decided by tomorrow!
Mon 12/22
study hall
¡ SURPRISE!
Hey, Nbook. Bet you didn't expect to see me here.
Thank Sunny.
She says she writes in her journal during her study hall. Everyone thinks she's really working.
I say, great idea.
Besides, today is the Useless School Day of the Year. Vacation starts tomorrow, so we have to be in school for one day this week. Of course, practically no one is here, and I don't blame them. Vacation should have started on Friday!
Boy, do I need to vent.
It's three days before Christmas, and I am like a flea on a sweaty dog. I can't stop jumping.
Remember my plans? All changed.
This morning, I'm at my locker, and I'm thinking: cologne. For James's gift, I mean. Mainly because the stuff he wears is so awful. So what if he thinks we're boyfriend — girlfriend? I'll deal with it.
Besides, we probably are. I look for him every day before and after school. And I always feel so good when we're together in the hallways. James has really changed my life. Before I met him, I felt so small. Moving into a new city and school was hard enough. But did I know that the Vista eighth-graders would be going to the high school building this year? No. All of a sudden, I'm not only a new student but also in the youngest class. Then I meet James, and all of a sudden upper-graders are talking to me.
He's cute. He's talented. His guitar playing is amazing. Besides, would I be managing the rock group of a guy who was not a boyfriend? I think not. Would I hold hands with a friend friend? Would I have kissed him 2 times? (Maybe 3.)
So I'm kind of in a trance at my locker, thinking about all this and deciding James must be a boyfriend.
Then he walks up to me.
Does he say "Hi" or "Good morning" or even "Merry Christmas"?
No. The first words out of his mouth are "Vanish rehearsal. Tomorrow."
"Excuse me?" I say.
He repeats himself, slowly, as if I had a brain transfer with a toad this morning.
Here's the problem, Nbook. When something like this happens, my mind goes all weird on me. The words flood into my head right away. I know just what to say. I know I should tell him it's crazy to have a rehearsal three days before Christmas and I have a thousand presents to buy including his and I cannot make it, no way no how, proceed without me.
But something happens to the words on the way from my brain to my mouth. They fall apart. They trip over each other. I start to speak and I sound like a total idiot.
"I don't know ..." I say.
"We need you to listen to the instrumentals," James barges on. "Maggie can't be there to sing."
Of course not, I want to say. She's shopping like any other normal person.
How that transformed into "Okay, I guess," I will never know.
But it did.
And I am stuck.
Tues 12/23
4:30
Nbook old buddy,
I am sitting in the backseat of Simon's car. He and Saint Isabel are giggling away in the front.
We are all going shopping, then Simon is going to drive me to rehearsal.
I have decided he is a nice guy. I shouldn't call him Big Tooth Lover Boy. Saint Isabel, however, is still in the doghouse.
And, you, Nbook, are helping me make her very paranoid.
Sometimes I am such a bad sister.
12/23
bedtime
I must be crazy.
I must be totally out of my mind.
I race through the Vista Hills Mall at warp speed. I look at every science fiction book ever written, smell every men's cologne ever made, nearly die standing in long lines, then make Simon drive me to the Vanish rehearsal. I arrive about ten minutes late, which usually counts as early to these guys, and — surprise surprise — they've already started playing.
Justin Randall is sitting there, so I sit next to him. I say a few words to him, like, "I can't believe there's another fool here 2 days before Christmas."
He laughs, we chat a little while. The music sounds pretty good, and I'm feeling exhausted but great because I've almost finished my shopping.
I smile at James, but he's deep into his guitar.
When the group breaks, I walk up to James. He's still deep into something, I can't tell what, because he's not looking at me.
"Sounds great," I say.
He gives kind of a half grunt, half laugh. "You heard it?"
I figure he didn't see me come in. "I was right here."
"I know. But you looked like you had something else on your mind."
What is he talking about? I'm saying to myself. I must have seemed totally out of it.
I mutter something like, "Well, it's kind of a busy time."
And then I see James glaring at Justin.
Blink! goes the light in my head.
I realize what's going on. He thinks I'm flirting with Justin Randall!
Please. Like I'm really interested in stealing the guy that Maggie is interested in, right in front of the whole group, in her absence. Like I'm hopelessly boy-crazed and can't help myself.
I can't even convince myself to be interested in James!
Anyway, the idea is so ridiculous, I start to laugh.
Big mistake. If looks were knives, I'd be dead. "What's so funny?" James asks.
"Nothing," I say.
"You think this is a joke?"
"No!"
"Are you laughing at me?"
I control myself. I try to explain. I try to tell him the concept of me liking Justin is silly, but it comes out all wrong. It sounds like I'm telling him he's silly. He just gets madder and madder.
Finally he stomps away.
I'm standing there, suddenly alone and totally embarrassed. Everyone else is trying to pretend that they haven't heard every single word.
And I'm thinking, I broke my back today for this?
Tomorrow I am taking back that cologne. Christmas Eve or no Christmas Eve.
Wed 12/24
I changed my mind, Nbook. Again.
I know, you think I'm stupid. But I can explain.
It starts this morning, just after breakfast.
Marina calls me. The first thing she says is, "My brother can be a real jerk." She says she's yelled at James for embarrassing me. She told him he should call me. Basically, she's apologizing for him.
I'm still mad at him, but I tell Marina my mind is open.
I know Simon and Isabel are going last-minute shopping. I decide that if James calls before they leave, I won't return the cologne.
But he doesn't call.
Soon Simon and Isabel are leaving. I have the cologne in my hand, gift-wrapped and ready for return, and I ask if I can go along. Isabel asks why.
I try to explain. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but nothing I'm saying is making much sense. Isabel keeps asking questions, and finally she gets me to pour out everything I'm feeling about James.
"Sounds like a misunderstanding," Simon says. "Why don't you call him?"
"He should call me!" I reply.
Isabel nods. She says James was wrong to fly off the handle.
I admit that some of it is my fault. That I wasn't really making myself clear to him. That maybe I made things worse by saying the wrong things.
Isabel thinks about this for a minute. Then she asks if I like James.
"Yes. I mean no," I reply. "I mean, as a friend, at least. Maybe more. I'm not sure. I like his sister. And I like being with him a lot. Sometimes. Maybe I should give him something that's less ... romantic or personal or whatever." (Speak much, Vargas?)
Simon smiles. "Cologne is safe," he says. "Isabel bought me cologne when we were just friends."
"Yeah, and look at you now!" I answer back.
Simon and Isabel grin at each other. Isabel rests her head on his shoulder.
"It wasn't the gift of cologne that did it," Simon says. "I didn't really like the smell anyway."
Isabel acts all shocked and they get into a make-believe fight that ends in a laugh and a kiss.
Another public kissyface scene between the Saint and the Teeth.
Only this time, Nbook, I don't feel like puking.
Instead I'm looking at them and thinking: This is a relationship.
And I'm wondering if James and I will ever be that way. I mean, it must be nice to care about somebody so much, and to know he feels that way about you too.
A question occurs to me, so I blurt out: "Did you guys fight a lot when you first met?"
Simon grimaced. "All the time, until she got used to me."
I think about this. Then I decide to stick with the cologne.
But now Simon and Isabel are both insisting I come shopping with them anyway. Just to cheer me up.
I agree, and off we go.
Well, the mall is a madhouse, of course. A kid almost knocks me over on the escalator. I stand in humongous lines again and buy some cool CDs. (I'll give them to Dawn and Sunny if they buy me presents. If they don't, the CDs are mine.)
We spend way too much time in there, and I am in a foul mood on the way home.
"Hey, where's your Christmas spirit?" Simon asks.
"Stuck somewhere between electronics and ladies' lingerie," I snap.
Then, completely out of nowhere, Isabel asks me the strangest question. Do I want to go with her to the women's shelter?
I tell her she may be dumb enough to work on Christmas Eve, but why should I tag along? Only I say it in much nicer words.
Isabel gives Simon a look, then smiles at me. "You said you wanted to experience Christmas spirit."
Nice try, but no go. Simon drops me off at home, I put on some Christmas CDs, and Mami puts me to work.
Around dinnertime I take a break and call James. (Yes, Nbook. The silence was killing me.)
He apologizes for blowing up at me. He tells me he understands what happened now; he "had it out" with Justin.
(Nbook, have you ever noticed that girls "talk it out" but boys "have it out"? What does this mean?)
Anyway, I invite him to come over tomorrow. He says he and Marina are going to their grandparents', but they'll be back at night. Which is fine, because my relatives will be gone by then.
He sounds excited.
I wonder what he's giving me for Christmas.
I know, Nbook, I know. I mustn't be greedy.
Well, the house looks beautiful. The food is arranged in the fridge, so we can put it all together tomorrow.
And I am going to bed.
Good night.
Ho ho ho.
Thursday December 25
¡ FELIZ NAVIDAD!
I love my new dress from Mami and Papi.
I love my CDs from Isabel.
I love my savings bond from Tio Luis the Banker.
And I had so much fun with my cousins! Why can't they all live closer? (I know why. Because WE moved!)
I would like to say gracias, gracias to everyone for all the gifts of the day, which are too numerous to mention. But you know who you are.
I am in hiding up here in my room because my stomach is so bloated from eating and laughing and talking nonstop that I am in mortal danger of making embarrassing noises in public.
You don't mind, do you, Nbook?
AMALIA'S CHRISTMAS
Maggie came over this afternoon. Mami kept offering her food, but she wouldn't eat one thing. I don't know how she does it.
Maybe I should ask her to give me lessons.
Or maybe not. I loved every morsel. And Maggie could stand to put on a few pounds, in my opinion, anyway.
So, while I am digesting, I will listen to music and tell you all about today.
At 5:57 A.M. Isabel and I run downstairs. (Actually we were both up at 5:30, but we restrained ourselves.) Mami and Papi drag themselves out of bed, complaining but smiling. We turn on the radio and every station is playing Christmas music.
Then, after we finish opening presents, Papi starts making his patented huevos rancheros, and Isabel runs upstairs to get dressed. She says she is going to the shelter.
"On Christmas?" I blurt out.
"Yup. Want to come?"
Crazy. Right, Nbook?
Now, here's the weird thing. I don't know what it is — maybe the carols on the radio, maybe the presents, maybe the smell of breakfast and the feeling of being together and happy at our first Palo City Christmas — but I call out, "Okay!" Just like that.
I actually want, in my heart, to be with my sister.
Big Tooth Lover Boy shows up and gives Isabel a necklace. Then — I cannot believe my eyes — he gives presents to Mami and Papi. I mean, really. This is like something from an old movie.
Papi asks if Simon is trying to hint at something, which embarrasses Simon and Isabel and they both laugh too hard. Then Mami winks at me and says, "Good thing you're going along, Amalia. You'll make sure they behave."
Now I'm embarrassed too. As Simon, Isabel, and I leave, our faces look like red peppers.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Amalia: Diary One by Ann M. Martin, Stieg Retlin. Copyright © 1997 Ann M. Martin. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Saturday 12/20,Sunday 12/21,
Monday 12/22,
Tuesday 12/23,
Wednesday 12/24,
Thursday 12/25,
Friday 12/26,
Saturday 12/27,
Sunday 12/28,
Thursday 1/1,
Friday 1/2,
Saturday 1/3,
Sunday 1/4,
Tuesday 1/6,
Wednesday 1/7,
Thursday 1/8,
Friday 1/9,
Saturday 1/10,
Sunday 1/11,
Monday 1/12,
Saturday 1/17,
Sunday 1/18,
Preview: Ducky: Diary One,
A Personal History by Ann M. Martin,