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Ivy and Bean Make the Rules (Ivy and Bean Series #9) by Annie Barrows β€” book cover

Ivy and Bean Make the Rules (Ivy and Bean Series #9)

by Annie Barrows, Sophie Blackall (Illustrator)
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Overview

Bean's older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp, where she will do Crafts and Music and First Aid and other secret things that Bean will never know about because girls have to be eleven to go to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp. Bean doesn't care. She doesn't want to go to camp. She wouldn't go even if they begged her. So ha. So ha ha. Soβ€”wait a second! Bean and Ivy can make their own camp, their own better camp: Camp Flaming Arrow, where counselors Ivy and Bean will give a whole new meaning to Crafts, Music, First Aid, and hands-on learning!

About the Author, Annie Barrows

Annie Barrows
Best known as the author of the award-winning children's series Ivy and Bean, Annie Barrows also collaborated with her aunt, the late Mary Ann Shaffer, on the epistolary novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Biography

A voracious reader (but an admittedly poor speller!), Annie Barrows grew up in northern California. One of her first jobs, while she was still in school, was re-shelving books in one of her favorite haunts, the public library. She attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a degree in Medieval History. After graduation, she went to work for a publisher, editing books in many different fields.

Bitten by the writing bug, Barrows received her M.F.A in Creative Writing from California's Mills College. She wrote several books on such diverse topics as fortune telling, urban legends, and opera before branching into children's literature. In June of 2006, she released Ivy and Bean, the first award-winning book in a series about two young girls who become best friends in spite of their differences. In 2007, she published The Magic Half, a standalone children's fantasy about the middle child (between two sets of twins) who travels back in time and befriends a young girl in need of her help.

In addition, Barrows and her aunt, the late Mary Ann Shaffer, collaborated on a post-WWII epistolary novel entitled The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Conceived by Shaffer, the novel was accepted for publication in 2006, shortly before Shaffer fell ill. Barrows stepped in to complete the project, and the book was published in 2008 to positive reviews.

Good To Know

Here are some fascinating outtakes from our interview with Annie Barrows:
  • I can read palms. I learned when I was researching a book on fortune-telling, and I figure it's my back-up career if this writing thing doesn't work out. I can also read head lumps, but no thanks.

  • In my house, we have a Museum of Despair. The collection includes a burst pipe; the wire hanger that was being used to open my car when I surprised the thief; the stitches from my daughter's knee; a bottle of vodka so old that it's a product of the Soviet Union; and a broken thermometer.

  • There are two quotations stuck to the wall over my desk. Here they are: .

    "But how could it be true, Sir?" said Peter.
    "Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.
    "Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was real why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend there was."
    "What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.
    "Well, Sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."
    "Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did not know quite what to say.
    --from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis

    "Behold, you look on a man that is soon to be dust. Yet because love endures all things, tell me, I pray you, how fares the human race: if new roofs be risen in the ancient cities, whose empire is it that now sways the world; an if any still survive, snared in the error of the demons."
    --from "The Life of St. Paul the Hermit"

    Most of the time, I don't do anything but work and hang out with my family, but I just got back from a three-week trip to England, where I got a chance to indulge some of my secret fascinations: Neolithic standing stones, haunted battlefields, out-of-the-way castles, and Victorian anthropological collections.

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    Editorials

    From Barnes & Noble

    With her big sister off to camp, Bean decides that she and her best bud Ivy can create their own outdoor fun. With its magically synchronized story and drawings, this chapter book is instantly endearing.

    From the Publisher

    "Will make their devoted fans very happy campers indeed." - The Horn Book Magazine

    Children's Literature - Sylvia Firth

    As the story opens, seven-year-old Bean is not very content because her older sister, Nancy, is going off to day camp and she must stay home because she is not old enough to attend Girl Power 4-Ever Camp. But with the help of her best friend Ivy, they soon decide to establish a camp of their own in a nearby public park. Using masking tape and a pair of old curtains, Bean constructs a tent to serve as headquarters for "Camp Flaming Arrow." With the program from Nancy's camp, the girls appoint themselves as counselors and build a daily program. Of course the sessions do not turn out quite like they are supposed to, but attendance and fun continue to grow with each passing day. The grand finale is a mighty battle between the forces of Queen Boudicca and the Roman soldiers that somehow ends up in the fountain with everyone very wet and the park totally free of trash. Fans of the other eight books in this series will certainly enjoy this newest tale. It is cleverly and realistically written to accurately portray today's youngsters and their adventures. The pen and ink illustrations are a perfect complement to the text as they clearly portray the action and emotion of the characters. Place this volume on the first purchase list as it is sure to be popular. Reviewer: Sylvia Firth

    Kirkus Reviews

    It's spring break, and Bean's big sister, Nancy, is off to Monkey Park, where she'll get to spend every day having secret, big-kid fun at Girl Power 4-Ever Camp for girls 11-14. Bean is 7. No way is Bean attending Puppet Fun! She and Ivy can make their own fun. After a false start (one board does not a tree house make; some things are beyond even duct tape's powers), Ivy has a brilliant idea, and Camp Flaming Arrow is born. When their moms let these small agents of chaos visit the park on their own, readers will know what to expect. Nancy's camp offers Crafts, Dance and First Aid; so does Ivy and Bean's--with a difference. Their friendship bracelets turn into chains binding Houdini hand and foot. Their tap dancing (stick thumbtacks into shoe soles, climb onto old metal wash tub and voilΓ !) is more fun than a silly old dance routine--louder anyway. Their First Aid, with the help of fake blood and bandages, morphs into a game of Zombies among the Puppet Fun kids. Quickly acquiring an enthusiastic following, the two inventive camp counselors give a whole new meaning to Girl Power. As usual, Blackall's art conveys the girls' anarchically imaginative glee, bringing the mischief and mayhem to messy, hilarious life. Making the rules rules! (Fiction. 6-9)

    Book Details

    Published
    September 5, 2012
    Publisher
    Chronicle Books LLC
    Pages
    127
    Format
    Hardcover
    ISBN
    9781452102955

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