Maggie (California Diaries #3)

This was a great book to introduce Maggie. It was cool how she was the only person w/a diary who wrote poems. You could really relate to her emotions. She was worried about so many things, but who could blame her? Her dad always trying to make her something she's not, her mother always getting drunk and not being around, and her little brother, Zeke (you know how little brothers are). If you're looking for a good book to read, this is it!

I love ALL the books in the series I own #1-14. Maggie is my second favorite character along with her best friend Amalia. Maggie is in 8th grade with her best-friends, Amalia, Sunny, Dawn, and Ducky. In this book she has to deal with her Mom's new drinking problem, her Dad being a famous movie producer and not being home all the time, her brother Zeke not wanting to go to tennis camp, and her "fat". Also Maggie sneaks out of one of her Dad's movie presentations and goes to the battle of the bands. She's in a band that her best-friend, Amalia, manages called Vanish. She's the lead singer, song writer, and keyboardest. In Maggie's journal it looks like anyother book since she has a laptop, but she writes her own poems.

From the author of "The Baby Sitters Club," it's a series for a pre-teen audience, written in diary format. Maggie, thirteen, enjoys both writing poetry for her school newspaper and jamming with the band, and she has an undeveloped crush on a junior. Her successful father, a movie director, has more "sophisticated" pursuits in mind for her. Maggie, then, feels stress from her family, peers and school. The issues are familiar ones that teens will identify with. It will never become a classic, but is a good book to draw pre-teens to reading. Maggie's poetry is set in a printed font, distinguishing it from the rest of the text. The packaging is attractive, a glossy cover showing a worried, mature looking teenage Maggie.

I've only read one of the "California Diaries" books before, and even that one I didn't finish. (I'm a fan of sad and serious stories, but, "Sunny, Diary Three," just wasn't my taste, i guess.) Anyway, When I picked up this book from the library, I did not expect it to capture my attention the way it did-I I got it yesterday, finished it today, and am currently looking forward to searching my library's files for more of the series.
I don't exactly know what it was about this that kept me reading...it had an interest ftactor. Maggie, a rather well-to-do girl of 13, is concerned about her grades, and is always being poushed by her father to think of her future. sHe takes piano lessons, but in this book, she gradualy gets her gaze moved to a slightly diffrent musical venue...
Now, she has a chance to do something diffrent and exititing...but will she take the risk?
I am a big music fan, so that aspect of this book realy appealed to me. Especialy Maggie's song lyrics. Some of them were pretty clever. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good read.

Maggie California Diaries #3 is a great book and a must buy. For those who don't know, it's about 13-year-old Maggie Blume who is feeling immense pressure from her dad, who wants her to be involved in heaps of extracurricular activities and have no fun at all. Maggie's mum is an alcoholic and all she cares about is "where her next pair of shoes is coming from" (this is from the book). Maggie has one sibling, a younger brother named Zeke, who is okay but not the greatest brother in the world.
Maggie herself is a perfectionist who wants everything - grades, family, looks, life - to be perfect. She is very hard on herself and this is taken from the book: "I got a 95 on the social studies test. I think i should have my head examined." See what i mean? Many reviews i have read of this book are saying that Maggie must be insane to think that 95 is a low mark or that she must be crazy to worry so much about everything. Well, that's not true. People are different and I myself am a perfectionist. i would like to say that after reading Maggie's diary i changed my ways but that's not true either - it's just who i am, and who Maggie is.
Back to the book. I love it how Maggie expresses herself through poems and songs. Some of the songs in this book are TERRIFIC, especially Twistin' In The Wind, Hey Down There and War. Maggie is a great writer but cannot see it. That's a shame.
In this particular book Maggie tries to break away from her perfect roots, but finds that it's not easy. You can see that by #8, Maggie Diary Two, that she hasn't changed - in fact, her perfectionism is worse.
I thought the cover of this book was GREAT and the writing style was good. But i found two things wrong with the book - the back cover writing was a bit TOO teenage drama. I mean, CA Diaries is a teenage series but it's not your TYPICAL teenage series with who goes out with who and gossiping etc. CA Diaries deals with more serious issues than the latest couple at school: Abuse, depression, racism, friendship troubles, illness, pressure. (As you read more CA Diaries these things are featured). The back cover made Maggie's book sound very teen-drama oriented when it is DEFINETELY NOT.
The other thing i found wrong with Maggie's book is that the ending wasn't as good as CA Diaries' Dawn #1 and Sunny #2. The ending was kind of rushed, in an effort to finish the book maybe. It was good, but not GREAT.
But these things aside, Maggie #3 is a must-read. It's definetely a 5-star book even if the ending's not great and the back cover blurb is too teenish - because everything else is above standards. Fantastic, worth buying and a great read, you can't pass Maggie #3 up!
Bye!

I love this book. I am a teenager and I think this book relates to the way we teenagers really feal. But another grate thing about this book is that its short. It make sense. It's not like other books where it gose on and on about stuff we dont know anything about. It is so clear a 5 year old could read it and understand it. They might evren injoy this book.

This is a very exiting and surprising book. I recemend it to teens. It is about a teen who writes all of her problems in a journal. I know that you will like it.

I think this is the best of the first three. Its really good, especially how she writes poems in the book. It lets you have an inside look at someone's life, like the other books. Its really good, even though sometimes she sounds wierd the way she words things. Overall it was great.

I love the Califrnia Diary books. They are so realistic! My favorite charicters are Dawn, Amalia, and Maggie. I have every single book of this series. When a new book comes out I'm sure to get it! This is a must read series!

This book was cool and i loved the lyrics!! Although i liked the ducky books the best.