Alison On the Trail

Magic Attic Club #6

by Catherine Connor

Alison finds herself out in the woods, leading a group of weary young campers. When the girls encounter two hungry bears on the trail, they run off into the forest. Now they're lost and only Alison can lead them back to safety. How can Alison earn their trust again? Can she find their camp before the thunderstorm hits?

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Juvenile

72 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Colette!]

If I could go back in time and tell my little self (well, younger self. I've been 5'3" since fifth grade) what I'd take away from reading this book, I might say: "One day, young Colette, you'll have a membership to REI."

[Panda Incognito]

As I remembered, Allison is kind of a brat. I remember that this book stressed me out a lot as a kid, and I can see why. It's one thing for her to be impulsive and unwise at school with her friends, and quite another for her to show the same traits while leading a bunch of kids on a hiking trip without a supervising adult. Yikes.

[Katie]

First, for the intro to me reading Magic Attic Club, go here.

We join the girls in science class during a lesson on electricity. A classmate challenges her to see who completes the experiment first, and of course Alison's competitive soul can't resist, but going quickly makes her careless. Megan gets shocked, Alison gets yelled at.

Embarrassed, Alison takes her feelings to the magic attic. She finds herself as a camp counselor in charge of shepherding a group of kids on an afternoon hike.

She proceeds to make what is basically the same mistake: Instead of following directions to the letter, she lets a careless mistake get her — and her campers — into trouble. Of course everything turns out OK, and Alison learns and apologizes — to the campers and her friends.

Since the science lesson was about electricity, I really expected lightning safety to come into play during the hike. But while there is a thunderstorm, and one of the kids worries about getting struck, atmosphere is as far as it goes.

Want more? Here are the other Magic Attic books I've babbled about.

[Emily]

Being an outdoorsy kid this was always one of my most favorite magic attic books. And re reading it as an adult it still was one of my favorites!

[Jess]

Alison is kind of a brat. She didn't issue a real apology and made the same mistake later. I feel like she didn't really learn much of anything.

[Liralen]

In school, Alison's impulsivity and competitiveness lead to a minor shock—but out on the trail, with a crew of young children relying on her, she finds that the stakes are much higher.

I don't remember reading this one as a child, but I love me a hiking book so thought I'd pick it up. Even after reading a few of these, I can't really tell the girls apart, but I guess Alison is one of the more strong-willed ones? In any case, she finds herself leading a group of seven-year-olds on a multi-hour hike through the woods, reliant on a map and some trail signs and her own good judgement...if she can in fact rely on that last one.

This is a book where I officially feel old: I probably would have enjoyed this as a kid, but as an adult all I can think is who is letting this completely untried child take a bunch of even younger children into the woods? Alison has a lot of knowledge about wilderness safety, which is never explained (something of a theme in these books—the girls seem to pop through the mirror with whatever skills and knowledge they need, though whether or not they retain any of it on the other side is another question), but she also makes rash decisions like taking what she thinks is a shortcut, without a map, in territory completely unfamiliar to her. Because this is a children's book, things turn out just fine, but not without some genuinely dangerous moments (literally, there are multiple chances for these children to die), and Alison gets to wave it off with an ""Oops! So sorry. I've learned my lesson!"" I'm not sure what I would have liked to see here, but at least a horrified adult or two?

This makes me think more generally about consequences in this series—the girls treat each scenario as though the consequences are real (which is good), but I don't know if we ever really know if they...are. Some of their adventures take place in the real world or something close to it, but some of them take place in magical scenarios, and as far as I can tell the books don't really pose (or answer) questions about what real-life ramifications these adventures have (if a girl had drowned in Alison's adventure, would she be able to find something about it in the paper when she got back to her normal life?). I mean...obviously this is outside the scope and age range of these books. But gosh. I'm not usually in it for the moral of the story, but I hope Alison learned her lesson in this one.

[Skittles]

This book was really interesting and suspenseful. I love the magic attic series a lot! It's one of my favorite!! I liked this book a lot because I like camping, taking walks and being a leader. Alison is my favorite character because she reminds me of myself a lot. Tge magic attic club is an easy read for anyone and I definitely reccomend it for any ages.

[Meadow Frisbie]

I read some of this series when I was litte. The story is about a attic filled with clothing, when you put something on you are transported to that time period. It was my favorite sereis when I was little, because, it was every little girl's dream.

[Kathrine]

I liked this book but the characters sometimes act wierd and REALLY scared!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rivkah]

I don't remember much about this book. Seemed to be a normal "camp story" type book.

[Ash]

Daughter says it's a cool book. Alison went on an adventure hiking trail all by herself without her friends. She was upset at school and the hike and events made her feel better.

[Elizabeth]

Alison On the Trail (Magic Attic Club #6) by Catherine Connor - Have fun with Alison on this white hiking adventure from the magic attic! Happy Reading!