Alice (novel series): Difference between revisions

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	*'''Marilyn Rawley''' was one of Lester's #1 girlfriends. She has long brown hair and plays the guitar. She gets married to a man named Jack in Alice On Her Way. She begins working at the Melody Inn in Alice in Lace. In The Grooming of Alice, she is hired as the assistant manager in Mr. McKinley's music store.		*'''Marilyn Rawley''' was one of Lester's #1 girlfriends. She has long brown hair and plays the guitar. She gets married to a man named Jack in Alice On Her Way. She begins working at the Melody Inn in Alice in Lace. In The Grooming of Alice, she is hired as the assistant manager in Mr. McKinley's music store.
	*'''Denise Whitlock''' A girl from earlier in the series. She used to bully Alice in the earlier books. In "Alice in April" the girls somewhat become friends. She revealed to Alice that her mother dosen't like her because her mother only wanted five children and she was the sixth. She is abused by her mother. Toreward the end of "Alice in April" Denise committed suiside by standing in front of an ~~on comming~~ train.		*'''Denise Whitlock''' A girl from earlier in the series. She used to bully Alice in the earlier books. In "Alice in April" the girls somewhat become friends. She revealed to Alice that her mother dosen't like her because her mother only wanted five children and she was the sixth. She is abused by her mother. Toreward the end of "Alice in April" Denise committed suiside by standing in front of an oncomming train.

	== References ==		== References ==

Revision as of 14:37, 24 October 2008

The Alice Series is a book series written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. There are three prequels to this series. The first one, Starting with Alice, describes Alice in third grade. Alice in Blunderland is Alice in fourth grade. The final prequel, Lovingly Alice, follows Alice through the troubles of fifth grade. The first book (after the prequels) is The Agony of Alice.

The Alice series follows the main character, Alice McKinley, known as "Al" to her father and older brother as she grows up in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her mother died of leukemia when Alice was five. Alice has a hard time at first growing up in an all-male household, but her father and her brother, Lester, prove to be honest and open about almost everything Alice talks about. Alice has very little memory of her mother, often confusing her with her aunt, and seems to bear a striking physical resemblance to her, especially her strawberry-blond hair. Other characters include Alice's two best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, her first serious boyfriend, Patrick, her next boyfriend, Sam, her prudish Aunt Sally (who frequently provides a little comic relief), Lester's many girlfriends, and of course her seventh grade Language Arts teacher, Miss Summers, whom she tries to get her father to marry (with eventual success). The Alice series broaches many topics, including relationships, dating, sex, friendship, life problems, families, God, and understanding. The books have made the ALA (American Library Association) list of most challenged books for several years, making it number one on the list in 2003 for their sexual content.

Alice movie

Main article: Alice Upside Down

A movie version of the Alice series called Alice Upside Down will release straight-to DVD on July 27th 2008. It stars Alyson Stoner, Luke Perry and Lucas Grabeel. The movie is about Alice starting the sixth grade and does not review the prequel books.

The Alice prequels

Starting With Alice (September 1, 2002) - 3rd Grade (Alice tries to deal with being the new girl when she, her dad, and Lester move to Takoma Park, Maryland after the store Alice's father works for transfers him to Maryland.)
Alice in Blunderland (September 1, 2003) - 4th Grade (Alice feels as though she can't escape her embarrassment.)
Lovingly Alice (September 1, 2004) - 5th Grade (Alice thinks that fifth grade is just one big joke.)

The Alice series

The Agony of Alice (September 1, 1985) - 6th Grade (Alice moves from Takoma Park to Silver Spring and struggles to make friends in her new school. All the while she is dying for beautiful Miss Cole to be her teacher but later realizes its what's on the inside that counts.)
Alice in Rapture, Sort of (March 31, 1989) - Summer before 7th Grade (Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth all get boyfriends.)
Reluctantly Alice (March 30, 1991) - Fall of 7th Grade (Alice tries to survive seventh grade and she deals with Denise Whitlock, the school bully.)
All but Alice (April 30, 1992) - Winter of 7th Grade
Alice in April (April 30, 1993) - Spring of 7th Grade (Alice tries to become Woman of the House, like Aunt Sally says she is becoming.)
Alice In-Between (March 1, 1994) - End of 7th Grade (Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth get to take a trip to see Aunt Sally.)
Alice the Brave (May 1, 1995) - Summer before 8th Grade (Alice is afraid her friends will notice her fear of deep water.)
Alice in Lace (March 1, 1996) - Beginning of 8th Grade (Alice and Patrick pretend to be married as part of a school project.)
Outrageously Alice (May 1, 1997) - Fall of 8th Grade (Alice is tired of the monotony of life.)
Achingly Alice (June 1, 1998) - Winter of 8th Grade
Alice on the Outside (June 1, 1999) - Spring of 8th Grade (Alice explores the idea of prejudice.)
The Grooming of Alice (May 1, 2000) - Summer before 9th Grade (Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth spend the entire summer trying to get perfect bodies for ninth grade.)
Alice Alone (May 1, 2001) - First semester of 9th Grade (Alice struggles with the idea of being single and the thought that Patrick likes another girl, Penny.)
Simply Alice (May 1, 2002) - Second semester of 9th Grade (Pamela and Elizabeth feel left out in Alice's life because Alice is always busy with high school stuff.)
Patiently Alice (May 1, 2003) - Summer before 10th Grade (Alice, Pamela, Elizabeth, and Gwen volunteer to be counselors together at a camp for troubled kids.)
Including Alice (May 1, 2004) - First semester of 10th Grade (Alice contemplates the value of social customs.)
Alice on Her Way (June 1, 2005) - Second semester of 10th Grade (Alice struggles to get a driver's license.)
Alice in the Know (June 1, 2006) - Summer before 11th Grade (Alice gets a part-time job at the mall.)
Dangerously Alice (May 8, 2007) - First semester of 11th Grade (Alice tries to shed her "good girl" image by taking risks and becoming involved with an older boy.)
Almost Alice (June 17, 2008) - Second semester of 11th Grade (Alice and Patrick get back together and Pamela gets pregnant.)
Intensely Alice (June 2, 2009) - Presumably the summer before 12th grade (the title is listed on the Simon & Schuster website).

Characters

Alice Kathleen McKinley is the protagonist and narrator of the series. She is an intelligent and open-minded girl. Her mother died of leukemia when Alice was in kindergarten. Alice often feels as though she doesn't know how to "be a woman" because of this; however, she manages to get along fine. Alice wants to be either a psychiatrist or a psychologist, as mentioned in several books.

Benjamin McKinley is Alice's father, and usually the perfect person for Alice to turn to for advice. At the beginning of the series he was portrayed as a "shy" kind of person, the kind of dad who was too scared to say the word "bra". Later on the author decides to take a more practical approach to his personality.

Lester McKinley is Alice's brother. There is a seven-year age difference but Alice feels very close to him. Even so, Lester is often too busy to deal with Alice and shies away from most of her questions, or answers them sarcastically. Les is also quite the "ladies man", but he has trouble with commitment. He juggled two girlfriends (Crystal Harkins and Marilyn Rawley) for the first half of the series.

Elizabeth Price is a devout Catholic with very strong views on sex. She is also very uncomfortable knowing that boys know she sweats, digest and other things.Alice and Pamela are always understanding of her feelings . She loosened up as she got older, though. She is one of Alice's three best friends.

Pamela Jones is an out-going blond whom Alice met in 6th grade. She bounces from two boys (Brian Brewster and Mark Steidmeiner) for most of the series.Later she gets involved with a boy named Tim. Early in the series she revealed to Elizabeth and Alice that her parents are nudists. She has the most difficult home-life due to her parents messy separation and divorce. She is insightful when it comes to boys, but her interest in sex gets her pregnant. She is one of Alice's three best friends.

Gwen Wheeler is the smart, talented girl in Alice's group of friends. She is one of Alice's best friends and the most experienced of all of them when it comes to sex because unlike Alice, Elizabeth, and Pamela, she isn't a virgin. She is African American which causes her to be singled out on occasion. She cannot go to Pamela's house because Pamela's father is prejudiced.

Sylvia Summers begins as Alice's 7th grade language arts teacher whom Alice adores. Alice wants to get her dad and Sylvia to go out, so during Christmas time she invites Sylvia to a Christmas choral performance at a local church with her father and her so Sylvia and her father can get to know each other. Later in the series, Ben and Sylvia get married and Sylvia becomes the stepmother Alice has been wishing for.

Patrick Long is Alice's ex-boyfriend but is still close friend to her. They were together during 6th grade but Alice ended that because Patrick wasn't committed. They eventually got back together. Then they broke up again at the beginning of high school because of a girl named Penny in their grade. His relationship with Penny didn't last more than a few months, while his with Alice lasted more than two years. Patrick had always liked Alice since they broke up and asked her to go to the prom with him.

Aunt Sally is Alice's deceased mother's sister. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Milt. Alice sometimes mistakes her memories of her mother with memories of Aunt Sally. Aunt Sally is very good at giving advice to Alice, but sometimes with personal questions - like sex - Alice asks Aunt Sally's daughter, Carol instead.

Sam Mayer is one of Alice's serious boyfriends. She broke up with him because she felt mollycoddled.

Marilyn Rawley was one of Lester's #1 girlfriends. She has long brown hair and plays the guitar. She gets married to a man named Jack in Alice On Her Way. She begins working at the Melody Inn in Alice in Lace. In The Grooming of Alice, she is hired as the assistant manager in Mr. McKinley's music store.
Denise Whitlock A girl from earlier in the series. She used to bully Alice in the earlier books. In "Alice in April" the girls somewhat become friends. She revealed to Alice that her mother dosen't like her because her mother only wanted five children and she was the sixth. She is abused by her mother. Toreward the end of "Alice in April" Denise committed suiside by standing in front of an oncomming train.

References

"Alice series tops ALA's 2003 list of most challenged books". American Library Association. 2004-02-14. Retrieved 2008-01-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=647542

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