Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Gets Slimed! (From the Highly Scientific Notebooks of Phineas L. MacGuire)

Phineas L. MacGuire--a.k.a. Mac--aims to be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. It's a tall order, but he's confident that he can achieve his goal, especially since Aretha has asked him to help her earn a Girl Scout badge by creating the mold that produces penicillin. How many fourth graders can say they've reproduced penicillin? None, as far as Mac knows. And who knows more about mold than Mac? But soon Mac is busy managing Ben's campaign for class president and dealing with his weird new babysitter. How can he focus on mold?

phineas L. Macguire (a.k.a. Mac) Has Three Goals For Fourth Grade:

1. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever.

2. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever.

3. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever.

it's A Tall Order, But He's Confident That He Can Achieve It, Especiallysince His Friend And Rival Scientist, Aretha, Has Asked Him To Help Herearn A Scout Badge By Creating The Mold That Produces Penicillin. After All, Who Knows More About Mold Than Mac? And How Many Fourth Graders Can Say That They've Reproduced Penicillin? None, As Far As Mac Knows. But Then He Has To Manage Ben's Campaign For Class President and Deal With His New Babysitter, Sarah Fortemeyer, The Teenage Girl Space Alien From The Planet Pink Who Accidentally Got Rid Of His Dried Worm Collection And Now He Has To Find It. How Is He Supposed To Find Time To Focus On Mold?

the Second Book About Phineas L. Macguire And His Scientific Experiments, phineas L. Macguire...gets Slimed!, Is As Much Fun As The First, And Includes Slimy New Experiments That You Can Do At Home!

kirkus Reviews

a Little Older And Wiser After Receiving Only An Honorable Mention In The School Science Fair, Inveterate List-maker Phineas Mac Maguire Revises His Fourth-grade Goals From 1. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever. 2. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever. 3. To Be The Best Fourth-grade Scientist Ever, To A Rather Less Ambitious Set. This Revision Itself Undergoes More Changes As Mac Struggles To Convince The Population Of Woodbrook Elementary School Of The Wonders Of Slime Molds, To Negotiate A Bearable Relationship With His Teenage Girl Space Alien Babysitter And To Manage The Class-president Campaign Of His Best Friend Ben, Who Everyone, Ben Included, Agrees Is Not Presidential Material. Mac's Chatty First-person Narration Is Punctuated By List After List, His Character Marked By Both A Disarming Awareness Of His Own Flaws And An Unshakable Faith In His Friends' Strengths. His Manufacture Of Penicillin For A Friend's Girl Scout Badge Is Both Informative And Done Entirely Without Ego, Just One Example Of What Makes Mac One Of The Most Charmingly Engaging New Characters In The Modern Chapter-book Scene. The Mold Experiments Appended Are An Added Bonus. (fiction. 8-12)

These are Phineas L. MacGuire's (a.k.a. Mac) goals for 4th grade: 1. To be the best fourth grade scientist ever. 2. To be the best fourth grade scientist ever. 3. To be the best fourth grade scientist ever. It's a tall order, but he's confident that he can achieve his goal, especially since Aretha has asked him to help her earn a Girl Scout badge by creating the mold that produces penicillin. After all, who knows more about mold than Mac? And how many fourth graders can say that they've reproduced penicillin? None, as far as Mac knows. But the school year gets a lot busier when he has to manage Ben's class president campaign and deal with his new babysitter, Sarah Fortemeyer, the Teenage Girl Space Alien from the Planet Pink. How is he supposed to focus on mold now? When his new best friend, Ben, decides to run for class president, fourth-grade science whiz Phineas MacGuire reluctantly agrees to be his campaign manager in exchange for help with his latest experiment--cultivating exhibits for a mold museum.