Well, some chickens have come home to roost with both the Hatfords and the Malloys. Their parents have been finding out some things that the kids were better off with them not knowing. Like what happened to that triple-layer chocolate chiffon cake with whipped cream frosting that Mrs. Hatford told the boys to take to the Malloys in the first book. And what the boys did to a pumpkin chiffon pie that the girls brought from their mother in the second book. After all, they say they couldn't really help it. When the three Malloy girls hand you a pie with their prettiest smiles and say, "Enjoy," you have to make sure there's no dog doo in it. Of course, Mrs. Hatford might not understand that.

The boys are pretty miserable when their mother insists they be nice to the girls. But then she tells them to treat those sweet little girls like sisters. Whew! For a minute there, the boys were worried. You don't have to get along with sisters --- everybody knows that. You can play all kinds of tricks and pranks on them, so life can go on pretty much the same as always. Of course, the girls need a spy to let them know what brotherly things the boys have in mind for them, and little Peter, who really likes the girls --- and really loves the cookies Beth bakes for him --- agrees to be the snitch.

What happens when his brothers find out he has deserted the brotherhood? And when all the kids face a blizzard without their parents, will they be able to pull together for once?

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny