Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Alice Alone. Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, New York, 2001.240 pages. $7.99 ISBN 978-1-4391-3229-6 (eBook).Grades 7-9; Ages 12-14.Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s beloved Alice is back and ready to begin high school. With her boyfriend Patrick at her side, Alice feels confident that this will be her best year yet. When Alice hosts a coed sleepover at her house, her brother Lester ends up with chaperone duties and her friends are thrilled. The whole crowd, including her old friend Donald Sheavers, shows up for the big night. Less thrilling for Alice is the new girl, Penny, who has her eyes on Patrick. Worse yet, Patrick seems to return Penny’s interest. When things finally come to a head and Alice and Patrick break up, Alice loses her self-confidence and wonders how she will navigate high school alone. In an attempt to erase her pain by helping others, Alice tries to invite a needy family to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. A miscommunication results in her inviting three prior female offenders: a former prostitute and drug addict as well as two thieves. Scared to admit her mistake, Alice tells her Dad and Lester that she’s invited three “refugees” to dinner. The hilarity that ensues helps lighten the mood of the harsher themes Naylor is addressing and opens the way for Alice and her family to discuss her actions and learn from them.This book is likely to cause some controversy. As Alice grows up, so do her problems and this book deals with more mature themes than the younger Alice novels. The themes of dating and fidelity are a big part of the first half of the novel. Sexual abuse and prostitution are topics discussed in the second half of the novel. Gossip and the true nature of friendship play a role throughout. These are tough themes, but, Naylor manages to address them with a sensitivity and realism that readers will believe and parents will appreciate. Many positive life lessons are embodied in the story including: the idea that a girl should not give power over her happiness to a boy, the idea that life is always changing and sometimes change is painful, and the idea that people are complicated and everyone has both good and bad inside them. About three-fourths of the way through the book a friend discloses to Alice that she was sexually abused as a child and Alice urges the friend to tell her parents. “They need to know because they love you, and it’s a part of you that’s hurting” (p. 212). While the resolution to this subplot was a little too simple, its introduction can open the door for dialogue on this difficult issue. Also, the inclusion of parents in the solution to the problem presents a very pro-family message that readers’ parents can appreciate.Through changing friendships, algebra struggles, drama club meetings, and school newspaper assignments, Naylor leads Alice through her first semester of high school in the sympathetic and realistic style readers have come to expect. Although confronting issues and themes of a more mature nature, in the end the positive messages of hope, family bonds, and self-reliance triumph over loneliness, self-pity, and despair. Alice Alone is entertaining and yet still real – a mirror for today’s teen girls who will see themselves in the struggles of Alice and her friends. From Alice they can learn independence, gratitude, and acceptance of self. Fans of the series will enjoy Alice Alone for its wit and accessibility. Recommended for the YA/Teen section of a public library or junior high and high school libraries.
So I saw this monstrous book on the shelf and saw it was 600 pages about a girl named Alice as a freshman in high school. I bought it. (Insert joke here). However, what I didn't realize was that it was a compilation of three books by the author which I guess is part of a series where Alice is the main character. So I read the first one, Alice Alone.It was alright I guess. I like these kind of stories because I read about things that I didn't really have much experience with when I was in high school. Man, girls cry a lot. At least they do in their bedrooms it seems. This story in the life of Alice revolved around the main theme of breaking up with her long time boyfriend, Patrick, and how she dealt with it. I'm a guy, I couldn't really relate to all the inner conversations Alice had with her close knit group of friends but it was entertaining seeing how the opposite sex operates.I'm not sure how I was able to read this so quickly (3 hours in two different sittings), because the story line was not moving. It was day to day stuff basically and there was no climatic build up. The end was blah as well as the story never really ended. I read the first page of the second book in my big book which is titled, "I Like Him, He Loves Her" and it looks like it picks up relatively close to where the first one ended.On the inside cover, there's a list of The Alice Books and I counted 25 and when I typed in "Alice Alone" here on goodreads, it came up as Alice #13. Does that mean I missed a lot of stuff by not reading the first 12? Didn't seem like it as I started reading but maybe it's something worth investigating over the summer.
Do You like book Alice Alone (2001)?
This is our mother-daughter book club choice for the summer. It was an apt choice as it deals with the first half of Freshman year of high school for Alice, and the daughters in our book club just finished their Freshman year. I have read other books by Reynolds Naylor in the past, and she is respectful of youth and their concerns. That said, this book was too light for me. I am glad the author did not trivialize Alice's break up with Patrick and Alice's confusion and lost feelings after that break up. This novel deals with dating, breaking up, sexual molestation, eating disorders, stepfamilies, and perfectionism. My favorite part of the YA novel was Thanksgiving and the hilarity of that day. I also enjoy novels that have recipes that readers can try should they so choose. I thought the novel tied together a little too neatly at the end. This is a 19 novel series apparently.
—Kimberlee
This book picks up right where The Grooming of Alice left off. Alice has started ninth grade, and things are a little rocky with Patrick, who has been her boyfriend for the past two years. He is trying to finish high school in three years and is always busy with homework or band. When he begins to spend more and more time with Penny, a new girl in town, Alice ends their relationship. She is absolutely devastated and wonders how she can possibly go on without him. Luckily, she has good friends and a great family. This is her journey to discover who she is and if she can make it on her own.
—Yapha
Alice was home alone when her dad went over the summer to virginia.Alices dad went to Virginia because he was meeting a girl over their.Well why alices dad was gone her aunt would come visit her and her older brother.Next alice is in highschool and her brother is in college.Alices mom died cause of cancer she died when they were little.So Alice thought that her life would never be the same but it did.Her dad brought home the girl from the airport the one he met in Virginia.Well she always went to school and have sleepovers.And she thought she would never get along with her new mom but actually they did everything togther.
—Emily Contreras
