Books with author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Sarah Simpson is tired of being ordinary. The most unusual thing she has ever done is bite the dentist’s fingers. So what can she do to be special? Trade names with her best friend? Eat snails and squid? When Sarah learns that her favorite Chinese restaurant might go out of business, she comes up with a plan. One that makes people want to say, "Here comes Sarah Simpson!" and saves Wongs’ Restaurant, too. In quintessential Phyllis Reynolds Naylor style, this delightful story speaks straight to the heart of kids as they struggle to define themselves.

In this charming repackage from a beloved series, Alice doesn’t feel like fitting in.Alice McKinley likes her life, but she senses things are changing. She gets a little bored by her best friends Elizabeth’s and Pamela’s obsession with clothes and makeup. She’s just not that interested. And though she is very interested in her boyfriend, Patrick, she’s not entirely sure how to keep their relationship going. Alice is struggling to figure out how she feels about things—and then how her feelings fits into what other people think she should be feeling. Getting older is even trickier than Alice thought—is she ready for the challenge? 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.

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!

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.

Alice McKinley comes home on the first day of junior high with a list of seven things about seventh grade that stink. Just about the only good thing she can think of is that she’s friends with everyone. Maybe that’s how to survive seventh grade—make it through the entire year with everyone liking her. That turns out to be easier said than done, when Alice gets on the wrong side of the school bully, Denise “Mack Truck” Whitlock. But Alice’s problems with Denise pale in comparison with the romantic entanglements of both her father and her older brother, Lester. And when Alice decides to help them out…life gets even more complicated.

Life, Alice McKinley feels, is just one big embarrassment. Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl? What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her. Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model -- one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.

There are, Alice decides, 272 horrible things left to happen to her in her life, based on the number of really horrible things that have happened already. She figures that out after the disaster of the talent show. And she realizes that there is no way to fend them off. But, she reasons, if you don't have a mother, maybe a sister would help. Maybe lots of sisters. A worldwide sisterhood! Sisterhood means more sympathy and less likely odds that the next horrible thing will strike when Alice is by herself. But, Sisterhood also comes with a whole new set of problems for Alice. Can she be Sisters with all three girls who want to be her brother Lester's girlfriend? In fact, how do boys fit into Universal Sisterhood at all? And how far should she you go when being part of the crowd means doing something you don't want to do? Alice copes with life in her own way, and her solutions to her endless problems are often funny and surprisingly right.

In Alice in April, Aunt Sally reminds Alice that she will be turning thirteen soon (like anyone could forget such a momentous occasion) and that she will be the “woman of the house.” Alice dives into her new role by planning her father’s fiftieth birthday party—and telling everyone in the family to get a physical. But that means Alice herself will have to disrobe at the doctor's! Then there's the latest crisis at school, where the boys have begun to match each girl with the name of a state, according to its geography—mountains or no mountains! As Alice stumbles her way through the minefield of early adolescence in these six new repackages for Summer, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way.

Life, Alice McKinley feels, is just one big embarrassment. Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl? What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her. Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model -- one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.

A month before eighth grade begins, Alice realizes she is going to have to face something she's been afraid of forever. Everybody, she knows, is afraid of something: elevators, dogs, planes, spiders . . . but her fear is worse. It's going to bring absolute disaster to the rest of her summer, maybe to the rest of her life. The truth is she's afraid of deep water!It's a hot August, and everyone in Alice's gang goes to Mark Stedmeister's swimming pool almost every day. Alice sits at the shallow end. She plays badminton. She makes excuses, and keeps her problem secret.Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Pamela, Alice's two best friends, tackle problems of their own, and are more or less successful. Life is changing for everyone but Alice.Bravery begins in little ways, with small steps. That's what Alice finally discovers. And after she faces this particular fear, she knows she can summon the courage to face other fears as well.As in her previous adventures, Alice tackles some of the big problems of growing up with humor and enterprise and learns once again that a brother, a father, and friends can offer amazing amounts of help.

Due to demand for a companion story to the popular Emily's Fortune, Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written another rootin' tootin' Wild West escapade that once again includes plucky orphans Emily and Jackson, dastardly villains, and comical cliffhangers.Emily Wiggins is thrilled that she and her orphan friend Jackson have escaped the clutches of the Child-Catching Services and Emily's villainous uncle Victor. Emily and Jackson are now living happily with her loving aunt Hilda. But just a mighty mouth minute! Someone's snooping around for an orphan child on the run! He knows Jackson is hiding nearby and aims to get a reward for snatching him and sending him to work at a mill. What in leapin' livers should Jackson do? And Emily can't rest easy either, since some sort of creature is coming to their gate when Jackson and Emily are home alone. What in simmering succotash is that moving pile of dirt? Is it a heap of black rags, is it a dusty tumbleweed, no it's . . . Now what in shaking shivers will happen next?