Alice

Almost Alice

Is it possible to be too good a friend -- too understanding, too always there, too much like a doormat? Alice has always been a good friend to Pamela and Liz, a best friend to Pamela and Liz. But she's starting to wonder where that leaves her: What am I? An ear for listening? An arm around the shoulder? And then there's Patrick -- after ending their relationship two years ago, he's suddenly calling again, and wants to take her to his senior prom. What does that mean? As Alice tries to figure out who she is in relation to her friends, she learns one thing -- sometimes friends need you more than they let on...especially when the unthinkable happens.

Always honest, brave, and true, the Alice series never flinches from big issues, and never discounts the small ones.

Dangerously Alice

Alice has always tried to be a decent person. She gets good grades, comes home on time, and has never really given her dad and her stepmom any reason to worry. But now that junior year of high school has started, Alice is a little sick of people assuming she's a goody-goody, so she decides to start shaking things up. First there are the dates with Tony, a cute senior who's a lot more experienced than Alice. Then the fights with her stepmom about the new cat, the car, and everything else start. But when Alice sneaks off to a party that her parents don't know about and a near-tragedy follows, she starts to realize every choice has a consequence, and danger rarely leads to good ones.

Funny, realistic, and always provocative, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does it again, proving that she understands what real girls think and feel, with this twenty-second book in the beloved Alice series.

The Agony of Alice

There's a lot about growing up that's confusing to Alice McKinley. Her mother died when she was four - how can her father and her nineteen-year-old brother, Lester, teach her what she needs to know? Even buying a pair of jeans can turn into a major embarrassment with Lester in charge.

If only she had a role model, like the beautiful sixth-grade teacher Miss Cole. But instead Alice gets assigned to plain, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin's class. Is Alice doomed to a life of one embarrassment after another?

Alice in the Know (Alice)

It's the summer before junior year, and Alice is looking forward to three months of excitement, passion, and drama. But what does she find? A summer working in a local department store, trying to stop shoplifters, and more "real life" problems than she could have ever imagined: A good friend becomes seriously ill, Lester has more romance problems than even Alice knows what to do with, and the gang from Mark Stedmeister's pool is starting to grow up a bit faster than Alice is comfortable with.... Fortunately for Alice her family and friends are with her through it all, and by the end of the summer, Alice finds she knows a whole lot more than she had in June.

Funny, touching, and always provocative, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does it again, proving with this twenty-first book in the beloved Alice series that she understands what real girls think and feel.

Alice Alone

The first day of ninth grade is looming, and Alice is anxious. "When I think of all the embarrassing things I'll probably do, all the humiliating stuff just waiting to happen..." she laments to her big brother Lester. Luckily, Alice has the undying love of her perfect boyfriend, Patrick--or does she? There's a perky new girl in town, and Patrick doesn't seem to mind her attentions at all. Plus, with all the activities of high school, such as reporting on the newspaper, homework, friends--not to mention Alice's weekend job, her concerns over her father's love life, and her friend Elizabeth's shocking revelation--Alice may not be spending as much time as she'd like with her beau.

In the thirteenth title of her popular Alice series (The Grooming of Alice, Alice on the Outside, and Alice in April, etc.), Phyllis Reynolds Naylor deals sensitively and humorously with the painful blow just about every teenager receives sooner or later: the first heartbreak. Multiple side stories thicken the plot, as when kindhearted but misguided Alice invites three female ex-cons to Thanksgiving dinner... and neglects to tell her dad and brother. Alice is, as always, funny, strong, and yet vulnerable; adolescent readers will definitely relate to her as her self-confidence rises and falls with every passing day. (Ages 12 to 15) --Emilie Coulter

Alice is starting high school, and everything is new. But it's the new girl, Penny, who's making ninth grade a real challenge for Alice. Penny is tiny and perky and a real flirt, and she seems to be focusing her attention Patrick. Even worse, Patrick seems to be enjoying it.

Alice and Patrick have been a couple so long Alice can't imagine life without him. Suddenly she feels lost and unattractive and scared -- not quite whole. How can Alice get back her confidence in herself, when she's not even sure who she is?

Starting with Alice

All Alice wants is a friend.

Well, a pet and pierced ears and really long hair would be nice, too -- and most of all, Alice wishes she still had a mother. But starting third grade in a new school in a new town can be lonely, especially if the closest thing you have to a friend is weird Donald Sheavers from next door.

But even making new friends can't solve all of Alice's problems. Somehow she manages to get into trouble for a stupid lie, and to get on the wrong side of a bullying crossing guard and three snooty girls whom Alice calls "the Terrible Triplets." Will Alice ever feel at home in Takoma Park?

Lovingly Alice

There are good years and bad years for kids . . .

. . . and fifth grade is turning out to be a bad one for Alice. Her teacher, Mrs. Swick, never smiles. A good friend moves away. Her plan to find a stepmother is a total failure. And then something happens that's so terrible it makes Alice mad at the entire world.

But then her brother, Lester, breaks his leg, and Alice discovers she feels much better when she stops feeling sorry for herself and starts helping him. The old Alice is back -- just in time for the biggest surprise of all.

Patiently Alice

It's the summer after Alice's freshman year, she's survived her breakup with Patrick, and she and her friends are looking forwards to their jobs as assistant camp counselors. Alice feels as if she's finally gotten a handle on life.

But Alice soon learns that the only thing she can count on is change. Pamela's mother is contemplating coming home, Lester is contemplating leaving home, and even Alice's father's romance with Miss Summers hits and unexpected snag. But most surprising of all are the shocking revelations about some of Alice's closet friends. Can Alice keep up with all the changes around her?

Alice in Blunderland

Can someone die of embarrassment?

Everything seems to go wrong for Alice in fourth grade -- whether it's being seen in her underpants by Donald Sheavers from next door, or saying dumb things in class, or getting trapped in her own snow cave, or getting a vitamin pill stuck up her nose. Worst of all, she's managed to get her brother, Lester, really mad at her -- and gotten both of them saddled with Mrs. Nolinstock, the worst housekeeper in the world. Will life ever get any easier? Fourth grade can't end soon enough for Alice!

The Grooming of Alice

The summer between eighth and ninth grade is looming for Alice and her friends. "It's going to be one of the most exciting summers of our lives.... All the stupid things we've ever done will be behind us, and all the wonderful stuff will be waiting to happen." First things first. The girls decide it's time to get in shape. Elizabeth tells Alice her waist is a little thick and her legs are too straight. With friends like these...

They embark on a summer of discovery, with jobs, a sex-education seminar, and flirtation with an eating disorder. As Alice tests the waters of adolescence, her relationships with her father, brother, and friends are challenged. When her friend Pamela runs away from home--to Alice's house--Alice must decide where her loyalties and ethics lie. And when her father goes off to Europe, will the temptation of entertaining her boyfriend in the privacy of her home override her father's trust?

Practical, lively Alice has appeared in many of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's other popular novels: Alice in Rapture, Sort Of, Alice on the Outside, and more. Her down-to-earth charm and quintessential adolescent ways will win her friends on and off the pages of the Alice series. From start to finish, readers will identify with Alice's hilarious, poignant, energetic exploits and be moved by Alice's growing maturity.

Serious issues--body image, death, sex--are balanced delightfully with more lighthearted teens-in-summer issues--makeup, grounding, first tampon use. By September, the girls have definitely had an exciting summer, but not necessarily in the way they had anticipated! (Ages 10 to 14) --Emilie Coulter

The Most Exciting Summer of Their Lives

That's what Pamela says about the summer before ninth grade, and she, Alice, and Elizabeth are determined to make the most of it. All three girls are getting into shape for the new school year by jogging three miles a day and cutting down on junk food, and Alice is enjoying her volunteer job at the local hospital.

But things keep happening that Alice hadn't counted on. Her satisfaction with her job is marred by an unexpected sorrow. Her attempt to be a loyal friend to Pamela gets her in trouble with her father and brother, big time. And both she and Pamela are afraid that Elizabeth may be taking her efforts to lose weight too seriously. Could the most exciting summer of their lives be a little too exciting?