Nothing but Trouble, Trouble, Trouble - Softcover

Grade 4-8-Writing in a lighter vein than in Mama, Let's Dance (1991) and Someone to Count On (1993, both Little), Hermes presents Alex, a cheerfully self-centered preteen who wants desperately to show she is responsible enough to babysit and have her ears pierced. More than that, she wants to prove to her parents that she is growing up-a difficult task considering all the scrapes that she gets into. A class project of caring for a pet for the weekend (or a raw egg, if one has no pet) goes awry; the mouse she buys chews its way out of its shoebox cage and wreaks havoc. It is only when the heroine shows that her true priorities involve what is best for someone other than herself that readers, and her parents, realize that Alex is maturing. Hermes has created believable characters in a warm but realistic family setting and a plot full of humorous scenes and harebrained schemes. A subplot involving a snobby classmate's invitation to accompany her family to Disney World as a way of getting at Alex's older brother seems contrived and out of place, but readers won't object to the hint of boy/girl relationships, no matter how peripheral. Good popular reading for and about a middle-schooler just becoming self-aware and reflective.
Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Though Alex very badly wants to be grown up, especially to embark on a baby-sitting career lucrative enough to pay for pierced ears, she has an unmistakable propensity for trouble. After an escapade involving her younger sister, Meg, and a great deal of mud, Alex agrees to prove her trustworthiness to her parents. First, she will earn an A on a "responsibility project" for her fifth-grade science project (involving tending either a pet or an egg for a whole weekend, "like, all the time "); second, she will keep out of mischief for two weeks. Deciding that she'd rather watch a pet than an egg, Alex catnaps two felines from an out-of-town classmate--despite her keen awareness of Meg's serious allergies. Alex's glaring lack of judgment and absurd short-sightedness are too obviously at odds with her goals, and it's hard to care much about her. On the other hand, her older brother, "Mr. Perfect," a marvel of academic and social achievement, seems little more than a stereotypical good kid, serving chiefly as a marked contrast to his sister. The broad humor and high jinks that mark this tale are simply not enough to carry it. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.