Bernie Magruder and the Disappearing Bodies Book

The middle book in the Alice prequel trilogy is a "bunch of incidents loosely connected by a theme" book more than a plot book, and the theme (aptly for Alice) is embarrassment. Nine-year-old Alice is at an age when good intentions + gullibility = lots of opportunity for embarrassment. Notably, she believes Lester when he tells her that his girlfriend is a Cinderella-like orphan who is mistreated by her adoptive family, and she sends the perplexed girl a box of random clothes/food/cash raised by her and her friends. This is also the book that contains the infamous "trying to kiss the neighbor boy while playing Tarzan" scene recounted in The Agony of Alice and other subsequent books. It wouldn't be an Alice book without sex education, and in this book it comes in the form of age-appropriate lessons about fetal development, inspired by Alice's teacher's new baby.

Bottom Line

Reasonably enjoyable, if not stellar or particularly memorable. While Alice's antics can be cringeworthy (that's the whole point of the book), she is also likeable and spunky.

Content Warnings: PRN really cannot make it though a book without a casual use of the g***y slur.

Random Observations

I don't think it's very funny or cool of Lester to tell his little sister lies and then get bent out of shape when she believes him, although I suppose 16-year-olds gonna 16. It's especially appalling that he jokes around about child abuse, however, and I also think it's sort of irresponsible of PRN to make that the crux of the big misunderstanding, as if to say that abusive parents are some sort of outlandish fairy tale villain you'll never actually encounter.

I was really worried that something would happen to Mr. Dooley's baby. You never can tell about a series like this, which sometimes pulls at the heartstrings. I'm glad he was fine <3

The description of the Tarzan scene here is, if anything, less detailed than in Agony. The comedic timing is definitely better in Agony, too.