Your Questions Answered

I Really Want to Hug Him but I’m Too Afraid

Question:

Ok so I’m 12 and I have been going out with this guy named Cody for about a month but I really think I love him.All I think about is him.And it ruins my day if I dont talk to him.I am sure I love him.But he has come to my house 2 times because he is my brother’s friend.We are GREAT for eachother.I can be myself around him!He is everything I ever wanted!But I talk to him on Facebook alot but sometimes I want to call him.But I’m really afraid to ask for him .And I dont know what to talk about with him!Also I drive myself crazy because I go into like this emotional turmoil of I dont talk to him for a day because I love him so much.I dont think he likes me as much as i like him because I really wanna hug him but I’m too afraid.Can you please help me?

Phyllis replied:

Please don’t hug him.  He comes to your house because he’s your brother’s friend, and you don’t think he likes you as much as you like him, right?  This doesn’t mean he might not change his mind after you grow up a little, but I don’t think a hug will help.  It’s hard to have a crush on somebody and want to be with that person all the time.  But you are twelve, you don’t know what to talk about with him, you tell me, and if you give yourself a little time just to enjoy him as a friend, these things will come easier, and he might see you a little differently.

He Wouldn’t Be Cheating on his Girlfriend, Would He?

Question:

first i wanna tell you how much i love your books. i can’t wait to read Intensly Alice. my town being small and not having a place to buy books except for Wal-Mart, i have to wait till i get to a book store.
i need help with a problem i’m having. theres a boy i like and we talk a lot on facebook and text and talk a bit in our Tae Kwon Do class. but he has a girlfriend and he talks to me sometimes until 11:30 at night! he told someone we both know last night that he didnt want to hurt his girlfriend and that i was amazing. i showed him i liked him, and i even said i only got nervous in front of guys i like and that i was nervous. he just said thanks but i think he did because of the girlfriend issue. what should i do about this? should i continue to talk to him? maybe even hang out with him? i’m not sure because he wouldnt be cheating on his girlfriend, wouldnt it?
once again, i love your books! keep writting.

Phyllis replied:

The Golden Rule applies here too, girls.  “Do unto others, etc….”   If you were this guy’s girlfriend, would you want another girl, who likes him too, hanging out with him?  Certainly everyone is allowed to have friends, whether he has a girlfriend or not.  Your talking with him casually does not put him in the cheating category, but unless and until he is “single” again, you shouldn’t be flirting with him, and you know when you’re crossing the line.  You’ve already told him you like him, and he seems quite conscious of the fact that he has a girlfriend.  I would nix the long conversations, and tell him quite frankly that you don’t want to come between him and his girlfriend.  If he decides he wants you more than the girlfriend, that will have to be his move to make, and his responsibility to let her know.

Loved Intensely Alice

I’ve been a huge fan of the Alice books since I was in the 7th grade. Now I’m 21 and going to be a senior in college. It’s weird how fast time has gone by. When I first started reading Alice, she was a year or two older than me. I loved being able to “look up” to her and get an idea of what life was going to throw at me. Now I’m older than her and she’s going through things that I’ve already gone through. 
 
I feel that some of the more recent Alice books were a bit disappointing and lacked the same wit and charm of the earlier books. I still wanted to read Intensely Alice and I’m really glad I did. I absolutely loved it! I don’t know what it is, but Intensely Alice had the same elements that made the earlier Alice books so wonderful. My favorite part of the book was seeing the relationship between Alice and Patrick unfold. I liked that they took their relationship to the next level, but didn’t go all the way. Alice has definitely grown up a lot and her relationship with Patrick is evolving from the days when he was giving her drum lessons in the basement. I also liked your depiction of what college life is like. I could definitely relate to that and I’m glad it wasn’t the stereotypical description of college life found in many other books. I laughed when Patrick talked about not graduating in 4 years if you walked across the college seal because my university has that exact same myth! I can’t wait for the next book to see what is in store for Alice and Patrick. I am also hoping there will be more in the plot line about Carol and her husband…..a baby perhaps? lol. Anyways, I loved Intensely Alice and I just wanted to let you know how great I thought it was! 

Phyllis replied:

It’s so interesting to me that for a time, Alice showed you what was ahead, and now you read about what is behind you.  Two very different perspectives, but I am so happy that you still love the books. 

We Decided to Read the Series Again

Question:

I have read your “Alice” books since I was in third grade. I know it seems a bit young but I started with the prequel ” Starting With Alice” and thought that I could read a book a year so that I could grow with Alice.

 It didn’t really turn out that way. Almost a year and a half went by and I read two or three books a week. I did this all the way up to “Alice On Her Way”. I finally realized that the books were getting way too adult for a girl in fourth grade so I stopped reading them and just sort of forgot about them. 

Just a few weeks ago my friend (who read the books with me) and I were at the local library and we found the same seventeen  Alice books we took out what seemed like an eternity ago. We decided we would read the series again starting with “The Agony of Alice”. We wanted to do this so that we could read our way back up to “Alice on Her Way”  and continue the series to the end. 
 

I hope that other girls ( or maybe some boys, I don’t know!) can enjoy the series like we did and remember the jokes and journeys Alice went through with yourself  tagging alongside her. You are a wonderful author and I can’t wait to read all twenty eight Alice books!

Phyllis replied:

What a great idea, to start way back with The Agony of Alice and read the books in order, including all the ones you’ve missed.  Enjoy, enjoy!

Perfect

Always Makes Me Happy

Question:

I’d like to first say thank you.  Reading a new book of yours always makes me happy.

I’m a nearly-thirty year-old guy, and I have been reading your Alice books since I first discovered them when I was 12.  It hit me yesterday on my day off that there should be a new one out now, and I took time to stop by the bookstore and get myself a copy of Intensely Alice.  Once I started I couldn’t put it down, just like usual.  I wanted to let you know that I also had a very strong emotional reaction to the ending of the book and ended up crying for a while afterwards.  It made me remember how much I cried over Denise when I first read Alice in April.  That doesn’t happen often or easily for me, but as I read about the one and remembered the other, you hit a tender spot in my heart.  Thank you.  The books I feel expected to read now as an adult often bore me, and rarely touch me, the way yours do.  Thank you again for reminding me why I love reading.  When my niece is old enough I hope to share these books with her as well, because they’re very moving, and funny, and educational all at once.

Phyllis replied:

A lot of guys like the Alice books, and for the same reasons that you do.  I must admit that I cried a lot when I wrote a couple of those chapters, and tears come to my eyes whenever I reread one particular scene.  I do get very involved with Alice, since I’ve known her now for 25 years!  I’m delighted that you follow her adventures, and very much appreciate your writing to me.

Alice Movie

Thank you for your comments.  I was frustrated too because Liz was so miscast, and wished they could have included wonderful Gwen in the movie.  I understand why they did it, of course.  They wanted the film to appeal to people of all races, and since Gwen doesn’t appear until later in the series, they decided to make Liz African-American.  But as I said, I try to see the movie as a thing separate from the book, “The Agony of Alice.”  If we didn’t know about the book, in other words, would the movie work on its own?  That’s the best way to judge it. 

As to your other comments, I hope readers understand that I am following one particular girl as she matures.  She is not “every” girl.  She does not do what readers always expect, or what readers think would be most exciting.  In our part of the country, that “after prom party” is a big deal in some high schools, and are a lot of fun.  My concept of what Alice would do at this particular time would be to have fun with her friends.   Yes, Pamela’s miscarriage was convenient, but this is not unusual for a small stature teenage girl who isn’t getting the sleep or the nutrition she needs and is tense and worn out.  I have to write the book as I feel it would happen, but every reader is entitled to make her own judgment.  I’m always grateful to readers who give me their opinions, and I do think about each one.  It helps direct me in future books.

A Book About Patrick?

Question:

How many pages will Always Alice be? Also will you do a book about Patrick?

Suspenseful, Heartbreaking and Funny

Question:I

Hits Close to Home

Question:

I just have to write to you and let you know how truly amazing the Alice series is. I have been reading them since I was in middle school, am now recently graduated and college bound, and have just finished Intensely Alice. Every single event in this series is so poignant, each book has the ability to resonate with every teenager out there. I have not cried quite as hard as I did when I finished up the last few chapters of the latest book in a long time. Intensely Alice especially hit close to home, because I recently have had many of the same experiences, feelings, and doubts as Alice.

The way you write these books, so true to life, so real, is inspiring. I really just wish to impress upon you how many lives you have affected with this series, for the better; whether they be girl or boy.

I know that they are just books, but growing up reading Alice was like having a dear friend who understood during all of the hard times. She went through all of the same growing pains as the rest of us, and being able to read about both her joys and her sorrows, laughing and crying as I went along, helped a lot. Thank you so much for providing me with this friend.  But Alice is so much a part of me and my family that I know her very well by now. 

Phyllis replied:

I appreciate your letter so much.  I probably hadn’t cried as hard either over any other book as I did this one.  Well, maybe two:  A String of Chances and Faith, Hope and Ivy June.  It means a lot to me that the book affected you so deeply.