Amelia Hits the Road and Amelia’s Are-We-There-Yet Longest Ever Car Trip appear to be the same book, but I cannot guarantee it, having only Amelia Hits the Road in my possession.
Marissa Moss’s Amelia series is incredibly kid-friendly. The books are made to resemble marble composition books and the font is even made to look like handwriting. Each book in the Amelia series is supposed to be her own notebook that she uses to record what’s going on in her life. The notebooks are decorated with full color illustrations throughout and all sorts of cool stuff.
Amelia, her mother and sister all hit the road on the way back to visit their old town, and in Amelia’s case, her best friend Nadia. The notebook documents their trip through some great American landmarks like the Grand Canyon and Death Valley.
While this book is not wildly exciting for adults, the format is fabulous for enticing kids as well as encouraging them to write on their own. It would considered on level for third grade and would be fine for advanced second grade readers. As a whole, I know the series follows Amelia into middle school, so a quick preview of other titles may be in order before assuming they have similar content to what is discussed below.
Great for: Encouraging children to keep a journal. This is also a great pick for readers who are transitioning up to chapter books but aren’t quite ready for a page full of teensy little font. The combination of doodle-like illustrations, side notes and large handwriting-styled font will be great for readers as they move towards sustaining interest in text only titles.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Amelia writes that her older sister looks “hot” in a bikini. Amelia meets a boy who her sister teases her about, but she just thinks it’s fun to talk to him.
Profanity – “jerk”, “stupid,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A decal on the front shows a man being kicked by a donkey. Amelia and her sister hit each other while in the car.The constellation of Orion shows him with a bow and arrow and sword. A picture drawn by Amelia shows a man about to fall into the grand canyon. Amelia draws a skeleton in the desert while admitting they didn’t see one. They see a graveyard in a ghost town. Cleo pretends a chicken bone belongs to a minor. Amelia draws a devil when they visit Death Valley. Cleo buys a hand held fan and Amelia wishes it would clip off the tip of her nose. She also wishes her sister would be eaten by a mountain lion. Amelia writes a story in her journal about a boy who is afraid his grandparents will die.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A reference is made to the song “99 bottles of beer on the wall.” A neon road sign shows a cocktail with olive.
Frightening or Intense Things – A sign outside a federal prison warns “do not stop for hitch-hikers.” They drive through Manzanar and briefly discuss the Japanese internment during World War II.
Other There is an incredibly brief mention of Ouija, tarot, palm reading, reading tea leaves and using magic 8 ball.
