Your Questions Answered

The Whole Series every summer!

Question:

I have been reading Alice books since I was in grade 7 (Canada). I am now 24 and still love reading THE WHOLE SERIES of Alice every summer. I plan to pass it on to my two nieces when they reach grade 3 and my own girls one day. Alice is so special and so ordinary and has taught me so much over the years. Thank you and please consider continuing these books every year until she dies – there are never too many lessons for Alice!

Phyllis replied:

I think I will keep the end of the Alice series as I planned it, Alice at age 60. But I do think you will like the final book. It may be my favorite.

Posted on: July 27, 2011

Always Alice

Question:

Will there be another movie other than “Alice Upside Down” . And one more thing on the the last Alice book “Always Alice ” will it be talking about Alice’s life from 18 to 60 or will it just be talking about all of Alice’s life ?

Phyllis replied:

As far as I know, there is not another Alice movie being planned at this time. The very last Alice book in the series, “Always Alice,” to come out in 2013, will have scenes from Alice at 18 all the way up to 60, covering the big moments of her life. It will not include her whole life; the Alice books already cover Alice from third grade on.

Posted on: July 25, 2011

Forever a Fan

Question:

I really just want to let you know how much I love the Alice series. I know you probably get this alot, but I thought you should know how much these books mean to me. I”m fifteen years old, and not only has these books helped me through some of the toughest years of my life (especially starting high school last year), but they have also kept me entertained through MANY hot summer days and cold winter nights. I have read all of the Alice books (up until Alice In Charge, still trying to get my hands on a copy) and I have to say the thing I love the most about these books is how relatable they are. There’s nothing special about Alice, she’s just a normal teen like me, and I love how I can relate to some of the problems she goes through in her day-to-day life. I also love how I feel like Alice is a best friend I’ve known since 3rd grade. I mean, I actually feel like I really know her! Another one of my favourite things about these books is how they cover EVERY topic. Alice has experienced many things, some I can relate to, some I can’t, but I use those books as a How-To guide, and I feel like I’m prepared for whatever life throws at me. Sometimes, when I’m in a bad situation, I think of something Alice has gone through, and think to myself, it could be worse! Even until now, until I’m writing down all the things I love about these books, I didn’t realize how much they really mean to me. So thank-you for giving me one of the best friends I’ve ever had and for being such an amazing author, you are truely one of my idols. Forever a fan,

Phyllis replied:

What a lovely letter. I especially appreciate that you view Alice as just an ordinary girl, whom I’ve tried to follow as honestly as I think she would live her life. She is not brilliant or greatly talented in some particular way, she is not supposed to be “The All American Girl” nor necessarily a role model. She just IS. But she’s someone I like a lot, perhaps she’s the daughter I never had, I don’t know. Some of the things that happened to her happened to my mother back in 1914! Some of the things she goes through are things that happened to me or my friends when we were growing up. Feelings are the same, no matter in what age they happen, and I’m so glad to know that these books resonated with you.

Posted on: July 23, 2011

Books in Order

Question:

I am a big fan of your Alice books and I’m so confused. How many books are there on total now because Amazon says there are 24 but your website says 21….. I am confused, I think you are right though. I just wanted to check because I didn’t want to read them out of order. Thanks! have a great rest of the summer!

Phyllis replied:

Go to the Alice website, www.alicemckinley.com and you will see “The Books in Order” at the top of the page. Click on it, and it lists all but the last few books. (I’ll ask our tech guy to bring it up to date.) The missing ones are “Alice in Charge,” “Incredibly Alice,” and the two that are yet to come out, “Alice on Board” and “Always Alice” (2012 and 2013). What may be confusing is that the publisher recently put all three books of her freshman year in high school in a fat paperback edition and titled it “I Like Him, He Likes Her.” They put all three books of her sophomore year in a big paperback and titled that, “It’s Not Like I Planned it This Way,” and the three books of her junior year have been published in a collection titled “Please Don’t be True.” When “Alice on Board” comes out next year, they will publish the three books of her senior year in a big paperback, but I don’t know the title yet. The very last Alice book that will end the series, “Always Alice,” will probably appear all alone–whether they will eventually include that in a collection, I don’t know.

Posted on: July 23, 2011

Fat/thin

Question:
All around me, girl’s are always complaining how ‘fat’ they are and how ‘gross’ they look. This isn’t just my close friends, but girls in my classes and my neighbors are constantly talking about how they are fat and need to lose weight.A lot of them are very skinny girls, and I am curvy and have a full figure and I feel bad all the time. I don’t know how to keep my self esteem up when girls 30 pounds skinner than me are talking about how gross there bodies are. If they think they are fat they must think i am gigantic! I don’t know what to do and how to stay positive about these thigns.

Phyllis replied:

First, we have to accept that there are several ways to view your body: what girlfriends think of it, what guys think of it, what the doctor thinks of it, and how you yourself feel about it, and all four may be entirely different. What is considered beautiful and sexy in one culture can seem over (or under) the top in another. To many people, and I’m one of them, some of the models in fashion magazines-especially of teenage girls–appear to be prisoners of war, with bony shoulders and knees and stick-like arms and legs. But extremely overweight people have me worrying about the effects on their heart and lungs and knees. Somewhere, just recently, I came across an experiment in which men were supposed to rate photos of women according to their sexiness; it was not the super thin women who were chosen the most, but photos of rather voluptuous women. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t worry about whether other girls considered me thin or fat. And I would keep in mind that for every figure on earth, there are men who appreciate that type of woman, if it’s romance you have in mind.

Posted on: July 23, 2011

Will pass Alice books on to my children….

I first read one of your books, Shiloh, for a book report when I was in the fifth grade. Later on I remember seeing the Alice books everywhere when I would go to the bookstore, and there seemed to be so many that I just didn’t know where to start! At the time I was about ten or so, and it did not occur to me to buy one, so I didn’t. When I was in the ninth grade I distinctly remember my English teacher taking our class down to the library where she said we had to choose a free reading book to check out by the end of the class period. We had to choose a book from the Teen/YA section. I had no idea what to choose. When my teacher called out that we had five minutes left to choose a book I randomly grabbed a book off the shelf on a whim. That book was Alice In The Know. I started reading it and was so interested in Alice’s life, especially her relationship between her dad and her brother. When I got to the chapter titled ‘The-New-Girl-Who-Came-To-Learn-About-Sex’ I turned the page so quickly I nearly got a paper cut! I was embarrassed by the title and felt like I was reading something I wasn’t supposed to. But I continued reading because I was so intrigued by the way Alice so openly discussed sex with her family, something that my parents never did with me. It was very refreshing to be reading a book so different from any other book I had read. For some reason, after reading Alice In The Know, I did not pursue any more Alice books. However, I recently picked up the newly released copy of Alice’s freshman year books, and realized I have been missing out by not following this series. I now own all of Alice’s sophomore year books, as well as her junior year books in addition to the freshman books. I wanted to tell you that I do not always agree with some of the things you write about, but that I will continue to buy your books for one reason: I find myself mulling them over long after I’ve finished them. That, to me is the sign of a good book, one that makes the reader think and sticks with them for years to come.I am an aspiring author, and I hope to one day give my readers stories that they will be thinking about long after they have finished reading, just as you have done with the Alice books. I am sure that you know how much your books mean to people like me. I am now eighteen and in college, and plan to save all of my Alice books to pass on to my children some day. Thank you so much for writing such great books!

Phyllis replied:

I love reading letters from people who have rediscovered Alice after many years. I’ve sent your email on to my editor, and know she’ll love reading it too.

Posted on: July 22, 2011

Stabbed in the Back and the Heart

Question:

Ive always been a fan of the Alice books. Recently I have related most to Alice in the Alice, Penny, Patrick love triangle. My boyfriend “Patrick” and i broke up a few months ago but recently began reconnecting. However, one of my good friends “Penny” all of a sudden developed a crush on him and began flirting with him like CRAZY. I ended up asking him if we can give our relationship another try but he told me he didnt want to deal with another long distance relationship. What hurts most is I found out about a week later he ends us asking “Penny” to be his girlfriend. I was crushed because not only did she ever come to talk to me about how she felt about him (she tells my best friend), but here he is telling e he doesnt want another long distance relationship, even though she and i are going to the same school next year. I just dont know how i should feel about either of them. I feel like Ive been stabbed in both the heart and the back. I’m sorry it happened, but a new school year is about to begin. Life is full of surprises.

Question:

Well, yes you have been. And sometimes these things just happen. There was a sort of lull in your relationship with your boyfriend. And it sounds as though even while you were reconnecting, you weren’t exactly a couple again, and meanwhile the guy was more or less on his own, and your friend tested the air and realized he was still looking around, and….and it happened. He fell for her, she fell for him, and how exactly do you go about telling your former girlfriend–and possibly on-again girlfriend–that meanwhile you found someone else attractive? And how does your friend, feeling that she was attracted to him and that you two weren’t quite a couple yet, tell you that now she likes him? It’s not easy for any of the three. Although it sounds as though the polite thing to do is come to you and say they want you to be the first to know that they like each other, it’s not that easy or simple at all, when they both have known you, one as a girlfriend, and the other a friend. About all I can say is that some day you very well may find yourself in a similar situation…a girlfriend of yours is dating a guy whom you also think is attractive and nice, and then you find out they broke up, and your feelings increase, and he seems interested too, and then…you discover his former girlfriend wants him back. It’s so hard. But remember this: when you want a guy back, you want him to come because he wants to, not because he feels obligated, or thinks it’s unfair of him to like someone else. There’s only one reason for a guy and girl to become a couple, and that’s because each of them willingly wants it that way.

Posted on: July 13, 2011

Low on the Popularity Scale

hi, ive never sent you a question before but here i go.I used to live in a tiny private catholic school.there were only about 20 kids in my grade.All the boys and girls were short and none of the girls had boobs.I was tall and shy and had puberty in 6th grade.I was pretty low on the popularity scale.then i moved at the end of seventh grade in march to a big public school.There were so many tall people and i felt like i fit in.Guys flirted with me on my first day and it all felt so bizzarre.I felt or thought it was a joke since guys never flirted with me.Then in 8th i seem to have lost some of my poplularity and am not sure whether im popular or not.Or even in the middle. i just float around and dont have a best friend which i want so badly. i’m with peole but feel like one of those seat filling people.My cousin already going to be a sophmore,me a freshman, asks if i know how to grind or go to parties,which i dont.My cousin in 6th grade already ‘knows’ but i still feel like a baby.My cousins are all good looking ,the girls short and skinny and boys tall and buff.Oh and very popular.I’m tall and do not fit in a small and feel like a loner though im surrounded.I always feel so left out and..like a child.But i wish to have childhood again.to not grow up so fast.The funny thing is im not nervous at all about being a freshman.

P.S. Can i have a hint of Alice On Board? i love your books and the girl vs boy ones too

Phyllis replied:

I think you’ll find that high school is very different from both 7th and 8th grades. You will meet many more people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds. I’d suggest that you try to join a group soon after school begins. Choose something you’re truly interested in–choir or basketball or the newspaper or Spanish club. A dance group, science club–some place where you will meet other girls (and guys) who share a hobby or talent or interest. It’s so much easier to make friends when you are in a group that is focused on something else–not just staring at each other trying hard to make friends. As for “Alice On Board,” coming out next June, Alice and her friends have been hired as stewards on a cruise ship, and a LOT of things happen. I won’t tellyou any more.

Posted on: July 13, 2011

Will Pass These along to my Daughter

Question:

For as long as I can remember, I have been reading the Alice series with great enthusiasm! Alice has had me captivated since the day I purchased one of her books back in early junior high. Although I am now twenty years old, I still continue to buy and eagerly read each new book. I feel as though I have grown up with Alice because, in a sense, I have. It feels as though she is one of my long distant friends that I hear from every year, and although another long span of time has past, we reconnect instantly. I continually chuckle aloud as I read about her mishaps and goofy shenanigans. I even cried along with Alice as she dealt with the loss of ——- and other events throughout her adolescence. You have such a knack for tuning into how girls think and feel in any given situation! Alice and her friends have taught me innumerable lessons throughout my life, and I know I will be truly sad when the last book is published and her stories cease to be written. However, her stories will not cease to be read and experienced by girls everywhere. I know that someday, when I have children of my own, I will pass these books along to my daughter and she will fall in love with the Alice series just as I did. Thank you for contributing your time to this amazing book series!

Phyllis replied:

These are some of my favorite fan letters–women who are still reading Alice long after they’ve passed her in age. I think you will like the final book, “Always Alice.” Thank you so much for writing to me.

Posted on: July 9, 2011

Pictures of Characters

Question:

Hello, I was wondering if maybe you could put pictures up of what all the characters in the books look like. I think that would be pretty cool because when you describe what the characters look like you say things along the lines of, “Liz is one of the most beautiful girls at the school…” I would really like to see what everyone looks like, and I think alot more people would too. So maybe there can be a section on the website where all the characters are and who they are.

Thank you!

ps. I really love your books.

Phyllis replied:

I wish I had time to do that, but I don’t. After the last book is published in 2013, we’re going to put the Alice “bible” online, which lists every single fact about every single character. It’s over 100 pages long and you can catch up on all the things that ever happened in the Alice series.

Posted on: July 7, 2011