Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Boy/Girl Battle #9

Boys in Control

Rate this book
Play ball! That’s what the sixth-grade Buckman Badgers baseball team plans on doing. Eddie Malloy and Jake Hatford hope to lead their team to the championship game the last Saturday in May. But due to a mix-up, Mrs. Hatford has to run a yard sale for the Women’s Auxiliary of the Buckman Fire Department the very same day in their very own yard! Not wanting to miss out on the game, the family elects the only nonbaseball fan in the family, Wally, to stay home and help watch over the sale tables until they return. Wally’s ticked off. On top of that, Caroline Malloy has written and will perform a play for a school project and has roped Wally into costarring with her. Let Caroline think she’s so smart. Wally has his own reason for being in the play. It looks like the Hatfords could be totally humiliated after the girls stumble upon an embarrassing item from the boys’ past. Leave it to Wally’s secret plan to turn the tables on the girls’ scheme and prove who’s really in control! Boys rule!


From the Hardcover edition.

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2003

25 people are currently reading
236 people want to read

About the author

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

245 books1,034 followers
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in Anderson, Indiana, US on January 4, 1933.

Her family were strongly religious with conservative, midwestern values and most of her childhood was spent moving a lot due to her father's occupation as a salesman.

Though she grew up during the Depression and her family did not have a lot of money, Naylor stated that she never felt poor because her family owned good books. Her parents enjoyed reading stories to the children--her father would imitate the characters in Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer--and her mother read to them every evening, "almost until we were old enough to go out on dates, though we never would have admitted this to anyone."

By the time Phyllis reached fifth grade, writing books was her favorite hobby and she would rush home from school each day to write down whatever plot had been forming in her head - at sixteen her first story was published in a local church magazine.

Phyllis has written over 80 books for children and young people. One of these books, "Shiloh," was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1992, was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and was also Young Adult Choice by the International Reading Association.

Naylor gets her ideas from things that happen to her or from things she has read. "Shiloh" was inspired by a little abused dog she and her husband found. The little dog haunted her so much that she had to write a story about him to get it out of her mind.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
235 (40%)
4 stars
196 (33%)
3 stars
119 (20%)
2 stars
29 (4%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Abi Gao.
80 reviews
August 24, 2021
this one is embarrassing. i’m embarrassed for them ngl
Profile Image for Anastasia Tuckness.
1,622 reviews18 followers
November 20, 2024
I do love a 1980s juvenile fiction and this one did not disappoint. Wagers, incriminating photos (just embarrassing not lewd) that get lost and then found, a massive garage sale and a playoff baseball game all come together.
Profile Image for Kimberly.
706 reviews
September 20, 2012
Thoroughly and completely enjoyed this series, which I read to my daughters through Nov & Dec at bedtime. Love, love, love Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for elementary aged readers. Love, love, love this series for the Brady-bunch era of hijinx between children... Love, love, love that neither the boys nor the girls are clear-case winners of the "war", though, my daughters do believe there was a winner. Whole-heartedly recommend as a family read and to all elementary-aged readers.
Profile Image for Misbah.
12 reviews
February 27, 2010
It was soo good near the middle and end, that the second night that I was reading it, I didn't sleep until I was finished! It was fantastic!
Profile Image for Maggie.
37 reviews
June 21, 2012
I think it was good and had just enough excitement to keep me reading it.
Profile Image for Brooke - TheBrookeList.
1,312 reviews17 followers
September 20, 2013
Kids loved when Caroline and Wally performed their play for the class and when Caroline followed the women stealing the framed picture. What an adventure! Fun read for all of us.
Profile Image for Lily.
212 reviews3 followers
December 22, 2022
3 stars

Wally has a secret plan but the girls are definitely not going to take it just laying down. In the meantime Caroline finally gets to act in a play!
Profile Image for Camilla.
12 reviews
February 4, 2008
no fair! the boys totally did not take the control! the title lied!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.