Good-Bye, Hello

In her first novel, Dugan ( Loop the Loop ) traces the woes of Bobbie Callahan as she endures the sixth grade at her parochial school. Lonely for her best friend, who has recently moved away, and fed up with Sister Alice, her no-nonsense teacher, Bobbie is more interested in reenacting scenes from the French Revolution and the Old Testament than in arriving to school on time. Her rebellious spirit (inherited, no doubt, from her pool-shark, convertible-driving grandmother) leads to trouble, but Bobbie is far less daunted by repeated reprimands than by her observation that Grandma Callahan is showing signs of age. A mixture of tender and tickling scenes produce vivid portraits: the heroine and her grandmother prove equally irresistible, and although Sister Alice is somewhat stereotyped, her straitlaced demeanor is an effective foil for Bobbie's exuberance. Readers fond of Ramona Quimby and Anastasia Krupnik will receive the remarkably resilient Bobbie Callahan with enthusiasm. Ages 10-up. (May)