Mallory's in seventh heaven. She's about to start a new job—as a part-time assistant to her favorite children's book author, Henrietta Hayes! It's for a special English class project: a study of Ms. Hayes's life, and how it figures in her novels and plays. And to round out the project, Mal will write her own play, for the Kids Can Do Anything Club. The whole thing is really exciting—and Mal's bound to get an A!
Then Mallory's research uncovers some troubling facts about Henrietta Hayes's past. And suddenly it looks as though Mal's perfect idol—not to mention her perfect grade—is about to come crashing down.
In chapter 12, Mallory goes over how the family got Pow.
Inconsistencies
In chapter 1, Claire is said to be four years old.
Charlotte and Becca volunteer to be part of the play even though they have stage fright. However, Charlotte's stage fright is mentioned since she played the mother in case her stage fright took over. Becca's is completely over looked.
Mrs. and Mr. Pike are said to have no rules, however there is one mentioned that they can't brush Pow in the living room
Mallory assumes that all writers write about their experiences, however she's shown to have known better in previous books such as Mallory on Strike.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Mallory Pike, #1 Fan, Mallory not only meets one of her favorite authors, but she gets to work for her as well. I don't get to know many of my fans personally, but when I first started writing, I did start several pen pal friendships. In those days, the Baby-sitters Club was just beginning, and I received only a few letters every year, so I could write back and forth frequently to kids who had written to me. Now I get about 17,000 letters a year, so of course I can't be pen pals with all the kids who write to me. However, I make sure that everyone who writes gets a letter back. As you can imagine, I need help with this (or I wouldn't be able to write any books). Several people work out of their homes helping me answer all those letters. Guess what. One of those people is a former Baby-sitters Club fan. She was one of my original pen pals who is all grown up now. So Rebecca helps me, just like Mallory helps Henrietta Hayes. You never know what might happen when you write someone.
Trivia[]
This book's working title was originally Mallory and the Mystery Writer [1]
Nicky once got stuck in a clothes hamper and his head between the banisters.
Mallory's grandpa died before she was born.
Dee showed Mallory how to use a computer word processing program and it's not hard.
Mallory is acknowledged in the Andersen reunion book.
In practice Mallory is writing fan fiction of the Andersen series when Henrietta asks her ideas about where the family would be.
Nicky and Vanessa are members of the Kids Club, but they weren’t in Mallory’s play. However, they could’ve been part of the group that made holiday decorations.