All Alice wants is a friend. Well, a pet and pierced ears and really long hair would be nice, too—and most of all, Alice wishes she still had a mother. But starting third grade in a new school in a new town can be lonely, especially if the closest thing you have to a friend is weird Donald Sheavers from next door. But even making new friends can't solve all of Alice's problems. Somehow she manages to get into trouble for a stupid lie, and to get on the wrong side of a bullying crossing guard and three snooty girls whom Alice calls "the Terrible Triplets." Will Alice ever feel at home in Takoma Park?

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.

There are good years and bad years for kids . . . . . . and fifth grade is turning out to be a bad one for Alice. Her teacher, Mrs. Swick, never smiles. A good friend moves away. Her plan to find a stepmother is a total failure. And then something happens that's so terrible it makes Alice mad at the entire world. But then her brother, Lester, breaks his leg, and Alice discovers she feels much better when she stops feeling sorry for herself and starts helping him. The old Alice is back—just in time for the biggest surprise of all.