40 Fun Facts About Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls

In Moving Day, what does Allie Finkle become convinced is lurking in the attic of her new house?

A zombie hand is Allie's best argument against the creaky old house. The audiobook even adds a bonus zombie-hand story read by the author herself.

One of Allie Finkle's rules warns against shoving which kitchen utensil down a best friend's throat?

A spatula features in one of Allie's best-known rules from Moving Day. She often makes her rules after the fact, to keep the peace with a best friend who cries easily.

Which author of The Princess Diaries also wrote the Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series?

Meg Cabot said younger girls kept writing that their moms wouldn't let them read her teen books, so she created nine-year-old Allie for them.

New girl Cheyenne joins Allie Finkle's class in Best Friends and Drama Queens from which country?

Canada sends Pine Heights a girl who wears high-heeled boots and calls anyone who won't follow her orders a big baby.

Which part does Allie Finkle get in the Stage Fright class play instead of the lead she wanted?

The evil queen is no consolation prize: by opening night Allie has learned that a smaller part played with heart can matter as much as the lead.

How do Allie Finkle and Brittany Hauser's other birthday guests travel to the dress-up store Glitterati?

A stretch limo is the reason Allie goes at all: riding in one is her lifelong dream, even though she thinks Brittany and her friends are snobby.

Where does Allie Finkle's class go on the field trip at the center of Blast from the Past?

A one-room schoolhouse awaits, and Allie's teacher urges everyone to dress up as someone from the 1850s, which some of her friends actually do.

Which ex-best friend from her old school becomes Allie Finkle's assigned buddy in Blast from the Past?

Mary Kay betrayed Allie right before the move, so sharing an old-fashioned desk with her for a whole day is the last thing Allie wants.

Which animal does Allie Finkle rescue from the Lung Chung restaurant in Moving Day?

A turtle goes home with Uncle Jay, but only after Allie promises to pretend she is happy about the family's move.

Allie Finkle starts at Pine Heights Elementary as the new girl in which school grade?

Fourth grade puts Allie in Room 209 at Pine Heights, a run-down, old-fashioned school just two blocks from her new house.

In Moving Day, Allie Finkle's family swaps a suburban split-level for an ancient house in which style?

Victorian, and about a hundred years old: the unrenovated house is so gloomy that Allie suspects it may be haunted.

What color is the wall-to-wall carpeting that Allie Finkle hates giving up in Moving Day?

Pink carpet gives way to creaky floorboards, secret passageways and a bedroom Allie is half-scared to enter.

Which classmate threatens to beat Allie Finkle up after school in The New Girl?

Rosemary later admits she was jealous of how easily Allie made friends, a confession that comes after Allie invites her over to meet her new kitten.

In Blast from the Past, what is Allie Finkle not allowed to own until sixth grade?

A cell phone has to wait, even though some of Allie's friends already have one.

In which activity does Missy, big sister of Allie Finkle's best friend, compete at a regional contest?

Baton twirling is the draw at the regional Twirltacular, the contest Allie skips for a birthday party and then lies about to her best friends.

Which publisher known for school book fairs released the Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series?

Scholastic signed the author in 2007 for three new series at once: Allie Finkle for readers aged 8 to 12, plus the teen trilogies Airhead and Abandon.

Which teacher of Allie Finkle shares a name with the author's own beloved childhood teacher?

Mrs. Hunter was the real teacher the author loved and found inspiring. Writing a short piece about her for a friendship anthology led to the Allie books.

Which prized collection is Allie Finkle told she cannot take along to the new house in Moving Day?

Geodes are such an Allie trademark that her official website had a Geode Match-Up game.

Which new neighbor does Allie Finkle befriend as she gets ready to start at Pine Heights Elementary?

Erica changes Allie's mood about the move: things look up once Allie meets her and sees her room all fixed up.

What name does Allie Finkle give the kitten she picks from a show cat's litter in The New Girl?

Mewsie, also called Mewsette, is Allie's first pick from the litter of show cat Lady Serena Archibald.

What is the name of the family dog who lives with Allie Finkle and her annoying little brothers?

Marvin was the family pet first: Allie's longed-for kitten only arrives in the second book.

Which lead role do Allie Finkle and almost every girl in Room 209 want in the Stage Fright class play?

Princess Penelope is also the dream part of Allie's best friend Sophie, who wants it even more than Allie does and is widely thought the better fit.

What does bossy newcomer Cheyenne make Allie Finkle's classmates play in Best Friends and Drama Queens?

A kissing game is Cheyenne's idea of being mature, and she gets really mad when Allie refuses to join in.

Allie Finkle's mom joins the local cable show Good News! in Stage Fright to do which job?

Film critic on local TV makes Mrs. Finkle practically a Hollywood insider in Allie's eyes, a connection Allie hopes will help her win a part in the class play.

Which two school subjects does Allie Finkle like so much because they come with clear rules?

Math and science appeal to Allie because you always know where you stand with them. She keeps a notebook of her own rules for everything else.

In The New Girl, Allie Finkle is embarrassed to take her little brother to school dressed as what?

A pirate outfit comes back to haunt Allie in a later book, when girls at a birthday party force her to wear one herself.

Which school contest does Allie Finkle plan to throw in The New Girl until a friend calls that cheating?

A spelling bee is one of several tests of Allie's first weeks at Pine Heights, where she also gets in trouble for talking in class on her very first day.

The class play that Allie Finkle's Room 209 stages in Stage Fright is set in the Realm of what?

Recycling suits a play about doing your part to help save the environment. Sophie has her part taken away after lashing out at Allie.

What is the name of the modern suburban elementary school Allie Finkle leaves behind in Moving Day?

Walnut Knolls comes back in Blast from the Past, when Allie's old class is paired with her new one for a field trip.

Whose 82nd rule does Allie Finkle translate into advice about keeping promises in Blast from the Past?

George Washington wrote out 110 rules of civility in his school book when he was about 14. Allie boils the 82nd down to finishing what you start and keeping your promises.

Which classic book series about four orphaned siblings do Allie Finkle and Joey Fields both adore?

The Boxcar Children make a home in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. The series is a shared favorite of Allie and classmate Joey Fields in the third book.

Which boy who used to call Allie Finkle 'Stinkle Finkle' turns up again in Blast from the Past?

Scott Stamphley is the boy Allie must stop from beating up a classmate, the one everyone on the trip keeps calling her boyfriend.

Whose advice on handling the class bully proves best for Allie Finkle in The New Girl?

The school janitor, Mr. Elkhart, sees that the bully's anger comes from being left out. Allie's father teaches her to fight, and Uncle Jay says to psych her opponent out.

In which language did three later Allie Finkle books appear with no English edition?

French readers know the heroine as Allie Punchie, and one of her French-only adventures has her spending Christmas in France.

What does the origami-style dust jacket of the first Allie Finkle hardcover unfold to become?

A poster three feet long, with more pictures of Allie and space for readers to write their own rules alongside hers.

How do Allie Finkle and friends careen down the stairs at the Best Friends and Drama Queens slumber party?

Mattress surfing shares the night with dress-up, rounds of Dance Party America and a dessert the girls call gooey brownie soup.

What does Uncle Jay call it when Allie Finkle's kitten slips into the wall for some time alone?

A walkabout is Uncle Jay's calm take on a scare for Allie, who fears her kitten could be trapped inside the wall forever while the house is being renovated.

At Brittany Hauser's birthday party, the other girls mock Allie Finkle's distaste for which food?

Tomatoes are just one target: the girls also bad-mouth Allie's birthday gift, and she ends the bullying by removing herself from the party.

Which fellow author suggested that the creator of Allie Finkle try writing a middle-grade book?

David Levithan noticed how much the author enjoyed writing about nine-year-olds for an anthology he had invited her into, and the idea became an obsession.

The author of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls was born in which Indiana college town?

Bloomington is home to Indiana University, where she studied before moving to New York City hoping to become an illustrator.