by Jim Benton
   they especially do not have a vengeful beagle.
   This is his first series for Scholastic.
   Jamie Kelly has no idea that Jim Benton, or
   you, or anybody is reading her diaries. So, please,
   please, please don’t tell her.
   Love is in the Air.
   So you might just want to stay inside.
   Dear Dumb Diary,
   I got another poem today from You - Know - Who . . .
   She is the fairest blossom, true,
   She blooms in any weather.
   But I must love her from afar.
   We’ll never be together.
   Signed, M.P.
   Can you believe the pain he’s in? His suffering? The
   crushing heartache he endures every time he sees me?
   Gosh, it just makes me so happy!
   Sneak a peek inside the diary of Jamie Kelly, who
   promises that everything she writes is true . . .
   or at least as true as it needs to be.
   www.scholastic.com
   Cover art by Jamie Kelly with
   the help of Jim Benton
   Cover design by Steve Scott
   RL5 008 and up
   Jim Benton’s Tales from Mackerel Middle School