Alvin Fernald, Foreign Trader

Alvin Fernald is not your ordinary eleven-year-old. His "Magnificent Brain," as he so modestly likes to call himself, gets him into one after another interesting escapade. In Alvin Fernald, Foreign Trader, his "Magnificent Brain" has done it again. This time Alvin, Shoie, and Alvin's sister Daphne have created a prize winning tasty concoction of Fernald's Fireballs. Together they have entered Kitchenmate Appliance Company's recipe contest and won the incredible prize of a summer vacation in Europe. When a mysterious Mr. X pops up causing trouble, they soon find out that there is more to the world of appliances than ovens, refrigerators, and dishwashers. Tangled in a web of industrial espionage, there trip to Europe becomes more exciting than they had anticipated, involving them in more than one hair raising incident. In the end, their trip to Europe is filled with memorable experiences as well as some valuable lessons in foreign trade and economics. Alvin Fernald, Foreign Trader is a fun-filled adventure story that children ages nine and up will enjoy reading as they learn about friendship, family, and foreign trade. The Bethlehem Books 2007 edition includes all new illustrations and a colorful, intriguing cover illustration that invites the reader to want to know more.

When Alvin "invents" a new candy by accident, he and his two main companions, the Pest(his sister) and Shoie(his best friend) win an expense paid trip to Europe with president of Kitchenmate Appliances. Trouble starts even before take off when Alvin discovers a man in a closet claiming to be a photographer for Kitchenmate, but no one knows who this intruder is. This man is after something and thinks Alvin has it. So, across Europe he dogs Alvin. In the mean time the kids are having the time of their lives even though there is a cloud of uncertainty with the mysterious Mr. X(the intruder guy). I just re-read this book and enjoyed it a lot. I especially liked the PR guy(Bixby) who kept trying to make rhyming slogans.