The third book in the Alice series, covering the first semester of seventh grade.Alice decides she wants to be liked by everyone in seventh grade, but runs into trouble when she meets Denise Whitlock, who mercilessly picks on Alice. So the lesson in this one is how to deal with a bully. Alice deals with Denise by killing her with kindness, an approach that might not work so well in real life, but makes for a nice conclusion here. I also liked how Naylor humanized Denise towards the end of the book, rather than leaving her as a two-dimensional villain. This is one of the books that I remember distinctly from my first read-through, when I was in about sixth grade. Lester has to choose between Marilyn and Crystal, which includes a sitcom-style scene when they both show up at his house to care for him when he's sick. Still funny, years later.Alice's family gets some solid character development in this one. Ben has been kind a distant father figure in the last two books, and things finally get a bit more flushed out here. He's still much gruffer and less warm than I remember him being when I originally read these books. I wonder if that changes throughout the series.Observations:- I enjoyed the lack of Patrick in this one. He's kind a dud.- Alice goes to the library to do some research on changing bodies and finds it to be a judgement-free zone. This is a wonderful message for tweens and teens who may not feel they can bring some of their questions home.- I got this from my library and it's a first edition straight from 1991. There's mysterious stains on every single page and the cover looks like the opening credits of Grease.- Alice says Aunt Sally dresses like a "lady banker", rather than just a banker.
I love Alice McKinley as a character. She is always trying to find her place in the world.In her latest adventure, Alice is starting seventh grade and she has one goal - for everyone to like her. She doesn't want to be popular, she just wants everyone to think she is a "swell" gal.There is only one problem. That problem is named Denise Whitlock. For some reason she hates Alice, and thus is the focus in the book: how to overcome a bully. Well, there really is only one way to do it - the Alice way!With Alice dealing with her bully, she and her friends adjusting to middle school, Lester dealing with two girls, and Alice's dad dealing with two women, this novel is packed with enough to keep readers turning the page.I gave this novel five stars because I feel that Naylor has a solid plot with well-developed characters. While it can get a bit repetitive book after book about Alice growing up without a mom, for me as a reader, it is what makes her an endearing character. A lot of Alice's issues are birthed from her growing up without a female role model, and I love that she is always searching for just the right one.
What do You think about Reluctantly Alice (2000)?
This is the third installation in the "Alice" series, and once again I was thoroughly entertained. Like the rest of the series so far, it was poignant, sweet and funny. Rather than rehash my feelings about the series, I'd like to share a favorite passage, which occurs as Alice researches the human body at the public library:"A librarian came by to get a book from the shelf, and she couldn't help but see what I was looking at; she didn't even blink. Like it was okay to be curious. I felt almost the way I did at the grade school the other day. Safe. Protected.When I picked out four books for Elizabeth, the man at the checkout desk didn't stare at me or anything, either. He checked out my books on bodies as casually as if I were reading up on the Civil War or photosynthesis or how to build a bird feeder. I had to know if this was just an act or if librarians were always glad to have you read stuff. So just before we left the library, I went over to a woman at the reference desk and asked where I would find a list of nudist camps.It wasn't just an act, it was real." -p. 90As a librarian, I realize I'm biased, but to me Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has shown exactly how great libraries can be.
—Meagan
These books are reminiscent of Judy Blume and her female characters...realistic fiction about daily life with no subject off limits. Although this series has been controversial, I haven't seen anything in this book that I believe is inappropriate for tweens....it addresses typical curiosities about puberty and for that some people have banned the book. If these had been written twenty-five years ago (ouch!) I would've eaten them up. They do a great job of showcasing feelings of a typical suburban twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old girl.
—Kendall
I can't remember this one well. It didn't stick in my brain like the others did. I do remember the bully but i can't remember if she comits sucide in this book or the next but yea at first i hated her until i realized her problems it made me cry when she died i mean i grew to love her ;[ so sad but other than that i can't remeber much about this one
—Angel
