Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch

By Lauren Barnholdt and Suzanne Beaky

Hailey Twitch wants to have fun, fun, FUN!

Hailey has a secret. She has a friend named Maybelle that no one else can see. Hello, long weekend! Hailey is going camping with her best friend and her magical sprite. They will get to eat delicious ooey-gooey marshmallows. It will be the best weekend ever! Only one thing can ruin their fun: Maybelle's out of control magic.

Can Hailey stop Maybelle from giving them itch, itch, itchy poison ivy?

"This winning series depicts one youngster's balancing act between her sweet and spunky sides and provides a welcome resource for kids waiting for the next Clementine or Moxy Maxwell." —Kirkus

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: May 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781402245992

Lauren Barnholdt

Lauren Barnholdt is the author of the teen novels The Thing About the Truth, Sometimes It Happens, One Night That Changes Everything, Two-way Street, Right of Way, and Watch Me. She is also the author of the middle grade novels The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney, Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better, Four Truths and a Lie, Rules for Secret-Keeping, Fake Me a Match, and the Girl Meets Ghost series. She lives in Waltham, Massachusetts. Visit her at LaurenBarnholdt.com.

Book preview

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Bounce, bounce, bounce. That is the sound of me, Hailey Twitch, bouncing all around. And I am bouncing all around because it is a long weekend. Hello, long weekend! A long weekend is something that only comes along once in a while. It is when you get a Friday and a Monday off from school. It is like four whole days for the price of two. And that is some very good math.

This long weekend is going to be the best long weekend ever invented. And that is because we are going to Lake Missoni! Lake Missoni is very fun. These are the reasons:

Right now I am supposed to be packing up my clothes. I am supposed to be packing two swimming suits, two sweatshirts, three pairs of pajamas, and lots and lots of underwear. Plus, some socks and some shorts and some long pants. My magic sprite, Maybelle, is helping me.

Now, Maybelle, I say. Please go over there and bring me a pair of jeans out of my dresser.

Maybelle goes over to my dresser and tries to pull out those jeans. But it is very hard for her. That is because she is very small, about one foot tall! That is only the size of one ruler. Also, she has beautiful long blond hair and gorgeous sparkly wings, and I am the only one who can see her.

Maybelle used to live in my dollhouse. She got sent to live there because she was not a very good sprite. She was not fun like sprites should be. So Mr. Tuttle, who is in charge of the Department of Magic, made her live in there as a punishment. But she got to come out! And that is not even the best part! The best part is that Mr. Tuttle gave Maybelle her magic back. And now she gets to try it out for two whole weeks. That is called getting a new responsibility to see if you are ready for it.

So far I do not think Maybelle is ready for it. Yesterday we did a school play of The Gingerbread Princess, and Maybelle accidentally knocked over the whole gingerbread house. But that does not mean she should not keep trying. Practice makes perfect!

But before Maybelle can try some magic on packing my suitcase, there is a knock on my bedroom door. And it is my mom.

Oh, hello, I say. I am packing up just like you said. I run and get those jeans right out of my dresser. Then I roll, roll, roll them up and then stuff, stuff, stuff them into my suitcase.

Hailey, you cannot stuff your jeans into a ball. She pulls them out of my suitcase and folds them nice and neat. And then my mom decides to tell me about something horrible. Also, Maya Greenbert is coming to camp with us.

I do not like this piece of news, I tell her. And I am maybe about to have a good tantrum about it.

Maya is Kaitlyn’s friend, my mom says, and so she is welcome to come camping with us. You are bringing a friend. You are bringing Addie Jokobeck. Kaitlyn is my sister. She is fourteen and thinks she is the boss of me.

Yes, I say. But Addie Jokobeck is nice and smart and has wonderful smooth hair, and she is not mean like Maya Greenbert. I think about maybe telling my mom about how one time Maya Greenbert would not let me share her bubblegum lip gloss. Maya Greenbert said that I would have too many germs on my lips since I am only in the second grade. But my lips were clean as a whistle!

Hailey, my mom says. Maya is not mean.

Yes, she is, I whisper to Maybelle.

What’s so mean about her? Maybelle whispers back real soft.

I will tell you a story about some lip gloss later. I cannot tell her right now because my mom will hear me.

Okay, Hailey, my mom says. She is looking into my suitcase to make sure I have everything all packed. My suitcase is red and says GOING TO GRANDMA’S on it. Which is not very fun or funny. But it is the only one I have. So I have to use it. Even though it does not make any sense since I am going to camp and not even going to my grandma’s house. Now I want you to fold these sweatshirts and put them in your suitcase, my mom says. I am going downstairs to pack the food.

Once

Reviews for Hailey Twitch and the Campground Itch

[abbieriddle · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This short chapter book is just the right size for 2nd grade and up. The words are large print and the illustrations are great! Haily Twitch is the younger sister of Kaitlyn and she is constantly up to something. In this book Haily is going on a camping trip with her parents, her friend, and her sister and sister's friend, Maya. Hailey thinks Maya is a bossy big kid. To add to this mix of mischief is Hailey's little magical fairy Maybelle who is trying to learn to control her magic. This is a recipe for disaster - and that is just what fills these pages. Both of my elementary children enjoyed the book. The story was easy and enjoyable to read. The only thing that I disliked about this book were the use of some slang words and the use of the Lord's name in vain. I marked these out in the book as they did not add to the story (and marking them out did not distract from the story). Other than this the book is great. It is perfectly suited for early elementary age students who are beginning to read chapter books.

Thank you Sourceboks for this review copy.