Books: Boys vs. Girls

Boys Against Girls

This sequel to Naylor’s light comedies The Boys Start the War and The Girls Get Even continues the pattern of slapstick and practical jokes in a secure small-town setting.

The Malloy sisters and the Hatford brothers trick and humiliate each other and get even. This time, each group scares the other with tall tales about the abaguchie, a creature that prowls at night and leaves footprints and bits of fur. Wally even fools Caroline into searching for the monster’s bones in a cellar in the local bookstore.

In one hilarious scene, the boys bait a huge trap for the abaguchie–and they catch Caroline. But what about those yellow eyes that shine in the woods at night? What is making those growling, snuffling noises? Could there really be a monster?

Naylor mixes in some real suspense with the farce and the folklore. There’s even a glimpse of a truce: maybe the girls and boys could join together against a common adversary–parents.

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