Zibby Payne & the Trio Trouble
by Alison Bell

    ZIBBY PAYNE & THE TRIO TROUBLE by Alison Bell
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  5/15/08
    Publisher:  Lobster Press
    Reviewed by:  Allison Fraclose
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Zibby Payne’s class has a new girl, Gertrude Long, and Zibby finds her absolutely fascinating. Gertrude’s offbeat
    clothing style, her artistic tendencies, and even her old-lady name (which was inspired by a famous writer, she says)
    —everything about her just seems so exotic. Zibby’s excited to have such a new, interesting friend.

    But her old best friend, Sarah, doesn’t like Gertrude at all. Sarah hates how Gertrude is always talking about how
    great things were back in her old town, and thinks that she was rude in insisting that none of the snacks at Sarah’s
    house were healthy enough. Suddenly, Zibby finds herself stuck in the middle, with her two best friends fighting for
    her time. Zibby cooks up one scheme after another to try and get them to come together peacefully, but nothing
    seems to work. What can she do to keep both her friends…and bring out the truth in Gertrude?

    The fourth of the Zibby Payne books brings us nothing less than the others as we follow our engaging heroine in her
    search for creative solutions to life’s crazy problems.