New Releases by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“An undeniably enjoyable read.” —Booklist “A charming sequel.” —School Library Journal Roxie and the Hooligans are back and this time, Smoky Jo is swiped by a kidnapper who is as blunder-prone as Roxie, Uncle Dangerfoot, and Lord Thistlebottom are clever. Roxie is back! And that means the Hooligans are not far behind. The last time we saw the lot of them, they were being honored as town heroes for thwarting a bank robbery. Now these friends find more trouble afoot…that is, Uncle Dangerfoot to be exact. Roxie’s most beloved uncle is taking her on vacation to a beach house, and of course the Hooligans sneak along. But their little beach vacation is not what it seems when the Hooligans unveil the secret invention Uncle Dangerfoot has been hiding from his nemesis, who would do anything to get his hands on it. So when one of those rowdy, messy, trouble-making Hooligans goes missing, the suspect is obvious. But, when it comes to those LOUD, mess-making, rambunctious, always-hungry, ill-mannered Hooligans, what’s worse: Missing a Hooligan? Or staying sane while keeping her hostage?!

"A coming-of-age novel about a boy whose daily life is difficult because he stutters but who discovers enormous courage when he goes on heart-pounding cave adventures"--

A rescued beagle and his boy owner seek love and understanding for their troubled small town in this holiday companion to the Newbery Medal–winning Shiloh, from Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Christmas is coming and Marty and his rescued pup Shiloh are sure glad about that—for their town is running low on love and understanding and they hope that the joy of the holiday will bring with it the generosity of spirit that’s so lacking. It’s been a year since Marty Preston rescued Shiloh from Judd Travers and his cruel ways, and since then, Marty and Shiloh have been inseparable. Anywhere Marty goes, the beagle’s at his side, and Marty couldn’t be happier about that. Even Judd has been working to improve his reputation. But just as the townsfolk grow more accepting of Judd, a fire in the woods destroys many homes, including Judd’s, and Judd’s newly formed reputation. Doubt, blame, and anger spread faster than the flames—flames that are fanned by the new minister, who seems fonder of fire and brimstone than love and mercy. And why are his daughters so skittish around him? And what’s happened to Judd’s dogs? With Christmas right around the corner, Marty has a lot of questions, and getting the right answers might just take a Christmas miracle. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s fourth book in the Newbery Award–winning Shiloh series—following Shiloh, Shiloh Season, and Saving Shiloh—“seamlessly interlaces themes of tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness…[and] explores the interconnectedness of family members, communities, and the dogs they love” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

It’s Alice—for the rest of her life! Yes, the very last Alice book, and it reveals every last bit you’d want to know about Alice, including whether she spends the rest of her life with Patrick! “This is the book where Alice, every girl’s girl, turns into every lady’s lady” (VOYA). Alice McKinley is going to college! And everything, from her room to her classes to her friends, is about to change. Stoically, nervously, Alice puts her best foot forward…and steps into the rest of her life. Will Alice’s dream of becoming a psychologist come true? Are she and her BFFs destined to remain BFFs? And with so many miles between them, will Alice and Patrick find each other again? Will there be baby Alices in her future? As Alice well knows, life isn’t always so predictable, and there are more than a few curveballs waiting to be thrown her way. This is it. The grand finale. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Alice McKinley will be revealed!

Fifth grade is tumultuous for Alice as she tries to help others through the many changes occurring at home and in school, including learning about sex when Rosalind gets her period and shares a book that explains what is happening.

In this twentieth book in the Alice young adult series, Alice starts to wonder if she’s giving more attention to her friends than she’s getting in return. Is it possible to be too good a friend—too understanding, too always there, too much, well, like a doormat? Alice has always been a perfect friend to Pamela and Elizabeth, but now she’s wondering where that leaves her—is she just a mother hen, an ear for listening, an arm around the shoulder? The truth is, Alice is getting a little envious of all the attention her friends need and get from her, and that’s turning her into something she’s never been before—a jealous, petty, not-so-perfect best friend. But sometimes friends need you more than they let on…especially when the unthinkable happens.

Wouldn’t it be great to go back to the time before Pam got pregnant, before Patrick left for the University of Chicago, before anyone was making any big decisions about sex or college or life in general? Wouldn’t it be great to get the whole gang together again, just once? What it takes for this to happen will change Alice (and the whole gang) forever. A funeral is not a happy reunion. Full of life—the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking—this Alice book is a reminder of just how much can change in an instant.

In her last adventure before starting college, Alice takes to the open sea for the summer—and nothing can stop the tides of change. Everything Alice has ever known is about to change—from where she sleeps at night to how close her closest friends will be. So Alice is meeting that seasick feeling head-on by setting sail as staff on a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship. And like any last great adventure before starting college, Alice knows she’ll need sunblock, an open mind, and…oh yeah, all her best girlfriends. It’s the perfect summer job. Perfect, that is, when things are going perfectly. But when they’re not, Alice has to figure out how to weather unexpected storms of all sorts. Which could be perfect after all—perfect training for her next big adventure—college.

Maryland teenager Alice McKinley spends her last semester of high school performing in the school play, working on the student paper, worrying about being away from her boyfriend, who will be studying in Spain, and anticipating her future in college.

Senior year is a big deal, and it's full of huge decisions and the very best kind of memory making--but, for Alice McKinley, her last year of high school is being overshadowed by some very difficult situations. A sudden increase in vandalism at the school leads Alice to discover an angry and violent group of students--teenage Neo-Nazis. And if that wasn't bad enough, an awkward hallway encounter gets Amy Sheldon to confess that a new, attentive teacher has been taking advantage of her. All at once, Alice's safe and comfortable school starts feeling strange and serious--all this plus the normal senior year pressures of college applications and life-making decisions. It's no wonder Alice is feeling like she can't cut loose and have a good time. She's getting older; Alice knows that--but does the world have to throw everything at her at once? Here're her options: step up or melt down. The choice is simple and true to the character that readers have loved for years: Alice steps up--and in a big way.

The Hatford-Malloy feud continues in this fast-paced sequel to The Boys Start the War and The Girls Get Even (both Delacorte, 1993). Their egos still smarting from the humiliation they suffered on Halloween at the hands of their female neighbors, the Hatford boys try to frighten them with tales of the abaguchie, a creature of local legend. A funny series of plans for revenge and retaliation from both sides follows. Ultimately, the children call a truce when they are united by a common cause-sharing a joke at their parents' expense. Although this title sums up the background of the story clearly, it relies on the earlier books for characterization. The girls come across as stereotypes-an athlete, a bookworm, and an aspiring actress-and the boys are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Nevertheless, fans of the previous books will enjoy this installment.

This fourth book about the Hatford brothers and the Malloy sisters begins shortly before Christmas, three months after the Malloys move to Buckman, WV. As the holiday season approaches, the boys and girls continue to play pranks on one another and begin to learn the consequences of their actions. Caroline Malloy and Wally Hatford are partners for their fourth-grade December project and discover that, instead of annoying one another, they need to learn how to work together in order to receive a passing grade. Told in their alternating viewpoints, the story moves quickly, continuing the mischief and humor of the previous novels. Readers will be especially taken with precocious and dramatic Caroline, who will stop at nothing for revenge. While it is not necessary to read the first three books, fans of the series will enjoy references to the characters' past pranks and will delight in the promise of future additions to this ongoing battle between these rivals.

The Hatford boys' New Year's resolution is "the girls can stay . . . but only if they play by our rules." Their mother insists that they "treat those girls as though they were your sisters." Okay, but somehow the boys' interpretation owes more to sibling rivalry than to brotherly love. The one weak link is young Peter, who doesn't understand the rivalry, openly likes the girls, and sees nothing wrong with sitting in their kitchen eating homemade cookies and answering questions about his brothers' plans. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud at the pranks, the conversations, and one unforgettably embarrassing moment. The high-flying humor is juxtaposed with the budding affection between Josh and Beth and the way all the children pull together during a blizzard. The fifth entry in Naylor's refreshing series chronicling the feud between the Hatfords and the Malloys.

The summer before she enters the seventh grade becomes the summer of Alice's first boyfriend, and she discovers that love is about the most mixed-up thing that can possibly happen to you, especially since she has no mother to go to for advice.

Sarah longs to find a way to be someone special, and when her friend's Chinese restaurant needs customers, she finds a special way to save it.

Just when they think their witch troubles are over, Lynn and Mouse discover an odd purple weed down by the creek--where they threw old Mrs. Tuggle's glass eye in the water--and it has a human-looking head.

Lynn's growing conviction that her sister is learning witchcraft from a neighbor reaches its peak when Lynn, her sister, and brother are left for a weekend in the neighbor's charge.

"Everything you need for successful literature circles that get kids thinking, talking, writing--and loving literature"--Cover

Just when the Hatford brothers were expecting three boys to move into the house across the river, where their best friends, the Bensons, used to live, the Malloys arrive instead. Wally and his brothers decide to make Caroline and her sisters so miserable that they'll want to go back to Ohio, but they haven't counted on the ingenuity of the girls. From dead fish to dead bodies, floating cakes to floating heads, the pranks and tricks continue—first by the boys, then the girls—until someone is taken prisoner! Will the Malloys leave West Virginia? Will the Bensons come back? Trust the four Hatford boys and the three Malloy girls to do anything to get one up on each other in this fun-filled war of the wits. Readers will cheer for their favorites in this lively story of two feuding families written by Newbery Medal winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Watch for the continuing chronicles of the Hatfords and the Malloys in The Girls Get Even.

Valentine’s Day is coming up and love is in the air between Beth Malloy and Josh Hatford. When they are spotted holding hands, Josh tells his teasing brothers that he’s simply spying on the girls to see what they’re plotting next. When Caroline Malloy decides she must know what it’s like to fall in love, too, poor Wally Hatford is in for it! Meanwhile, big sister Eddie couldn’t care less about that mushy stuff. All she cares about is her sixth-grade science fair project. But when she comes up with a great plan, Josh and Jake Hatford horn in on her project. On the day the plan goes into action, little do the boys know that Eddie has a trick up her sleeve. And with daredevil Caroline’s amazing attention-getting stunt, trouble is sure to follow. Get ready, the Malloys and Hatfords are at it again!

When Bernie Magruder sets out to prove that his sister isn't responsible for the bomb that went off in the Bessledorf bus depot, the next likeliest suspect turns out to be his brother, Joseph. "Snappy dialogue, cliff-hanging chapters, funny situations, and nutty characters . . . a perfect choice for reading aloud".--"Booklist". Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Eighth-grader Alice has lots of questions about sex, relationships, prejudice, and change.

While living on his family's ranch in Wyoming where he hopes to someday become a cowboy, Ryan faces conflicts with his older brother who is involved in a militia movement.

Bernie's attempt to marry off his sister Delores results in mystery and near-disaster at the Bessledorf Parachute Factory.

When mean and angry Judd, who has never known kindness, takes to drinking and mistreats his dogs, Marty discovers how deep a hurt can go and how long it takes to heal.

When thirteen-year-old Chrissa is sent to her paternal grandmother's farm, she learns more about her absent father and some of the reasons for her distant relationship with her mother.

Sixth-grader Marty and his family try to help their rough neighbor, Judd Travers, change his mean ways, even though their West Virginia community continues to expect the worst of him.

Ten-year-old T.R. and his twelve-year-old brother Danny move to Rosemary Acres with their mother and find new friends as well as a lot of community rules to follow.

After several bombs go off around town, eleven-year-old Bernie Magruder becomes suspicious of various members of his family, causing confusion in Officer Feeney's investigation and around the hotel that his parents run.

For Doug's brother, Gordie, the ridge with its spectacular view is a magical, special place, but for Doug, it's The Fear Place. Two years ago, Doug hiked to the ridge during his family's annual camping trip, and he vowed never again to cross the narrow ledge from which the earth dropped away six hundred feet to the canyon below. But now the boys' parents have been called from their vacation by a family emergency, and Doug and Gordie are alone in the wilderness. After one of their seemingly endless fights, Gordie has stomped away from their campsite. When Girdle doesn't return, Doug fears the worst, particularly when he hears reports that a cougar has been sighted nearby. Doug knows he has to go after his brother, and he knows where he will find him. What he can't imagine is the surprising source of the courage to overcome his fears.