New Releases by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Includes a reading group guide for the Alice series.

Here are all the embarrassing things that might happen to you in the fourth grade -- and do happen to you, if your name is Alice McKinley: 1. Your next-door neighbor (who happens to be a BOY!) sees you in your underpants. 2. You sneeze beans all over your best friend. 3. Your brother lies to you for fun and you believe him. 4. You get trapped inside a snow cave -- your own snow cave, that is. 5. You''re the only person in the whole grade who can''t sing. Alice can''t seem to do anything right anymore, especially where her big brother Lester is concerned. When he gets really angry with her, Alice doesn''t know how to fix things between them. How is she going to get Lester to talk to her again? And will life ever get any easier? Fourth grade can''t end soon enough! The second of three prequels to the beloved Alice series, Alice in Blunderland lets younger readers get to know the girl everyone wants to be friends with, and proves once again that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor knows the fears, foibles, and fun of being a girl.

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.

Alice has always tried to be a decent person. She gets good grades, comes home on time, and has never really given her dad and her stepmom any reason to worry. But now that junior year of high school has started, Alice is a little sick of people assuming she''s a goody-goody, so she decides to start shaking things up. First there are the dates with Tony, a cute senior who’s a lot more experienced than Alice. Then the fights with her stepmom about the new cat, the car, and everything else start. But when Alice sneaks off to a party that her parents don’t know about and a near-tragedy follows, she starts to realize every choice has a consequence, and danger rarely leads to good ones.

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.

Growing up—and slimming down—is the tricky proposition in this repackaged installment of the beloved Alice series. The summer before ninth grade is all about getting it right—from head to toe. Alice and her friends want to start high school feeling like they always imagined a true high schooler feels: confident, capable, and pretty. But a little too much time standing in front of a mirror in their bathing suits makes Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth feel the exact opposite of ready for high school. They have two-and-half months to transform themselves—but when Elizabeth starts taking the weight-loss plan too seriously, Alice worries that growing up (and slimming down) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. As Alice stumbles her way through the minefield of early adolescence, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way. Every girl should grow up with Alice, and with this irresistible new look, a whole new generation will want to.

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.

It''s the last semester of senior year, and while Alice and most of her friends are out looking for prom dresses, another classmate is shopping for wedding dress--with room enough for a baby bump.

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-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.

As Halloween approaches, the three Malloy sisters find themselves continually trying to get even with the four Hatford brothers, who have been playing tricks on them since the Malloys moved from Ohio to West Virginia.

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.

In the second semester of her junior year of high school, Alice gets back together with her old boyfriend Patrick, gets a promotion on the student newspaper, and remains a reliable, trusted friend.

Since Alice McKinney burst onto the scene in 1985, she has addressed the issues tween girls care about with humor and sensitivity. Now, the first two books in Naylor''s beloved series are reissued with a fresh new look.

SUMMER IS AROUND the corner, and the rivalry between the Malloys and the Hatfords is heating up! The kids have two weeks to earn money for a fundraising contest sponsored by the local hospital. Those who collect $20 or more for the new children’s wing can choose to be in the annual Strawberry Festival Parade or get all the strawberry treats they can eat. There’s only one place Caroline Malloy—wants to be: smack dab in the middle of the glamourous Strawberry Queen’s float. But how will she earn the money in such a short time? Do the Hatford brothers have moneymaking secrets that they’re not telling the girls?

The feud between the Hatford brothers and the neighboring Malloy sisters continues over the summer when they reluctantly join forces to publish a newspaper.

Sixteen-year-old Alice is outraged when her father signs her up for a class on sexuality at their church without her permission. But what Alice learns this year surprises her as she begins to realize that there''s a lot more to being an adult than getting a driver''s license or having a boyfriend.

Many residents of Middleburg, Indiana, are already going crazy from the ever-ringing church bells and now, after a bat is spotted in the hotel run by Bernie''s family, they worry that the dangerous Indiana Aztec bat has finally arrived.

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.

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.

Details the career of one writer from published pieces to novels written to date.

Sam suspects the culprit who is gassing assembly line workers in the parachute factory lives in the hotel his family manages.

While living with her uncle in a house haunted by the ghost of a young woman, recently orphaned Judith Sparrow wonders if her one small transgression has caused mysterious happenings.

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.

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

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