Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

The summer before eighth grade, Alice tries to confront her fears, not the least of which is a fear of deep water.

Fourth-grader Alice tries unsuccessfully to avoid embarrassing mistakes and to establish better relations with her older brother Lester.

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.

During the summer between eighth and ninth grades, Alice and her friends Pamela and Elizabeth decide to improve themselves through exercise.

"Marty and his best friend, Shiloh are on another adventure. Marty learns when a secret is too dangerous to keep, and that hate can spread like fire"--

Alice experiences the joys and embarrassments of seventh grade while advising her father and older brother on their love lives.

En casa de Marty Preston no sobra el dinero, así que parece imposible que él y sus hermanos tengan una mascota. Un domingo, Marty encuentra un cachorro al que decide cuidar y proteger. Para hacerlo deberá mentir y cada mentira le generará un problema mayor. Pronto Marty comprende que no siempre es fácil saber qué es lo correcto.

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

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.

The Malloy girls and the Hatford boys try to outdo each other in a quest to earn money and choose how to participate in the annual Buckman, West Virginia, Strawberry Festival.