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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Abrahams, Peter Down the Rabbit Hole 375 pp. HarperCollins/Geringer ISBN 0-06-073701-8 $15.99 LE ISBN 0-06-073702-6 $16.89
(3) Echo Falls series. Like her favorite detective Sherlock Holmes, thirteen-year-old Ingrid is keenly observant and stubbornly persistent. But when she learns she may have spotted a murderer, Ingrid feels as topsy-turvy as Alice in Wonderland (whom she happens to be portraying in a local theater production). Ingrid is a well-drawn character, and the Holmes and Alice comparisons are never overdone in this breezy mystery. TDA
* Aiken, Joan The Witch of Clattenngshaws 135 pp. Delacorte ISBN 0-385-73226-0 515.95 LE ISBN 0-385-90252-2 $17.99
(2) The posthumous arrival of Aiken's final Wolves novel is a welcome farewell from this grande dame of children's literature, and it begins in a happily familiar gothic vein, with a dark night, mysterious voices, a foundling-and a witch who lives in a Ladies' Convenience in Scotland. This brief novel is a testament to Aiken's unflagging humor and creative powers. Review 5/05. DFB
Alcott, Louisa May Little Women 525 pp. Sterling ISBN 1-4027-1458-0 $9.95
(4) Illustrated by Scott McKowen. The complete text of Alcott's classic tale of Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March is reprinted with a ribbon bookmark and a list of open-ended questions ("Do you think she overreacted, or was her anger justified?") designed to stimulate thought. Repeated scratchboard illustrations head each chapter, giving the book a generic appearance. PDS
* Alexander, Lloyd The Xanadu Adventure 145 pp. Durton ISBN 0-525-47371-8 $16.99
(2) Victorian adventurer Miss Vesper Holly is back, this time near the site of ancient Troy as located by Professor Dionescu. But Vesper and friends, including disapproving guardian Brinnie, narrator of the tale, meet with violence when they learn Dionescu is working for a megalomaniac archvillain. Alexander's writing holds many pleasures: his ironic, articulate voice, a lovably imperceptive narrator, and a knowledge of Homer. Review 3/05. DFB
Allie, Debora The Meanest Girl 120 pp. Roaring Brook/Brodie ISBN 1-59643-014-1 $15.95
(5) Sixth-grader Alyssa feels threatened when a new girl moves to town and upsets her perfect life. Alyssa becomes increasingly mean and eventually realizes that maybe she herself is the problem, not the new girl. The one-dimensional characters in this predictable story often seem younger than they are. AMM
* Anderson,...