Frances O'Roark Dowell

The children's book Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell was published in 2000 and focuses on the 1920s. It is a first person narrative from the viewpoint of a mountain girl who wants to clear up confusion about a recent murder.

Houston, we have a problem! Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) has a lot to learn about outer space if he’s going to be the best scientist in the fourth grade. To get the knowledge he needs, Mac is determined to go to space camp, but his mom says he has to earn the money himself. Houston, we have another problem: a …

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 …