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Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Erupts!

The First Experiment

Illustrated by Preston McDaniels

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About The Book

Here's what you need to know about Phineas L. MacGuire, boy-scientist extraordinaire, aka Mac:

1. He's allergic to purple, telephone calls, and girls, and can prove it.

2. He's probably the world's expert on mold, including which has the highest stink potential.

3. He does not have a best friend. He does, however, have an un-best friend, who he does not -- repeat, not -- want to upgrade to best friend status.

But disaster strikes when his teacher pairs Mac and his un-best friend together for the upcoming science fair. Worse, this un-best friend wants the project to be on dinosaurs, which is so third grade. Worse still, it seems as though everyone else in his class finds the un-best friend as unlikeable as Mac does. But, being a boy-scientist, once Mac notices this, he just might have to do some investigating....

About The Author

Photograph (c) Clifton Dowell

Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I’d Like to BeThe Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far AwayChicken BoyShooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Award; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling InThe Second Life of Abigail Walker, which received three starred reviews; Anybody Shining; Ten Miles Past NormalTrouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; The ClassHow to Build a Story; and most recently, Hazard. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.

About The Illustrator

Preston McDaniels is the illustrator of the Phineas L. MacGuire series and Cynthia Rylant’s Lighthouse Family series. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska, with his wife and two daughters.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (May 8, 2007)
  • Length: 176 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781416947349
  • Grades: 3 - 7
  • Ages: 8 - 12

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Awards and Honors

  • California Young Reader Medal Nominee
  • Maud Hart Lovelace Award Nominee (MN)
  • William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
  • NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee (AZ)
  • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Master List
  • Nevada Young Readers' Award Nominee
  • Virginia Readers' Choice Award List
  • Land of Enchantment RoadRunner Award Nominee (NM)
  • Sunshine State Young Readers' Award List (FL)
  • Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)
  • Georgia Children's Book Award Finalist

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More books from this author: Frances O'Roark Dowell

More books from this illustrator: Preston McDaniels

More books in this series: From the Highly Scientific Notebooks of Phineas L. MacGuire