From award-winning author Frances O’Roark Dowell comes all of Phineas L. MacGuire’s highly scientific notebooks — now available together in a collectible boxed set.

In Phineas L. MacGuire… Erupts!, Phineas Listerman MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) does not have a best friend. He does, however, have an un-best friend. And he does NOT, under any circumstances, wish for this un-best friend to become his friend. But the teacher does not know this, and has paired them together as science fair project partners. Worse, this un-best friend wants the project to be on dinosaurs, which is so third grade. But is Phineas going to convince this un-best friend to do the project on mold instead when he doesn’t even want to talk to that person?

In Phineas L. MacGuire… Gets Slimed!, Mac’s goal for the school year is to be the best fourth grade scientist ever. It’s a tall order, but he’s confident that he can achieve his goal, especially since Aretha has asked him to help her earn a Girl Scout badge by creating the mold that produces penicillin. After all, who knows more about mold than Mac? And how many fourth graders can say that they’ve reproduced penicillin? But the school year gets a lot busier when he has to manage Ben’s class president campaign and deal with his new babysitter, Sarah Fortemeyer, the Teenage Girl Space Alien from the Planet Pink. How is he supposed to focus on mold now?

In Phineas L. MacGuire… Blasts off!, Mac is less than up-to-date on planetary happenings. If he’s going to be the best scientist in the fourth grade, Mac has to set his sights a little higher. Well, actually a lot higher: Outer Space. But, space camp is expensive and Mac’s mom says he can go only if he earns the money himself. But, where is he going to find enough money for a week on Mars (or a pretty close simulation there of)?

And in Phineas L. MacGuire… Gets Cooking!, Phineas L. MacGuire — scientist extraordinaire — has a new chore: cooking dinner every night. He may be a genius, but he knows nothing about following a recipe. A pinch? A dash? A smidge? This doesn’t seem very scientific to him. But he’d better learn quickly if he and his friends are going to win the $10,000 Bake-Off prize. And to make matters worse, Evan Forbes, the school bully, has taken a liking to Phineas’s brownies… too much of a liking. Cooking is kind of like chemistry. So maybe this whole recipe thing won’t be too bad after all. But can Phineas keep his cool in the kitchen?