Alice Blog

what happened?

Hello, I love the Alice books. I was wondering, did Patrick break up with penny or was it mutual? Why did they really break up? Did Patrick really call her by Alice’s name sometimes or did Jill make that up? Patrick said that penny demanded way too much of his time, what exactly does that mean?

Sigh….  (1)  Probably mutual   (2)  Got tired of each other  (2)  He really did  (4)  He wanted to do other things.

 

Thanks for everything

 

I grew up reading the Alice books in middle school (1998-2000). I reached out to you via email as a teenager about various questions about personal issues, my body… you name it. You answered them all.

I’m almost 35 now and I still think about Alice and her friends from time to time! Every time I see Silver Spring mentioned my mind goes back to Alice!

I just wanted to say thank you so much for giving us all that you have provided for us: as a role model and this amazing community.

 

I love hearing from grown women who were friends of Alice way back when.  I so appreciate you taking time from your own busy lives to write to me!

Huge thank you!

 

Your books have guided me throughout middle school and high school – I’m now about to graduate college and found my Alice books while packing! Currently re-reading them and they brought back so much memories. Thank you for sharing Alice with us!

 

I’m so glad that you and Alice stayed friends.  They were some of the most enjoyable books I’ve written, and it was always so exciting when it was time to write another book in the series.

Truly, thank you.

Growing up reading the Alice series as an only child who was very hesitant to ask questions about getting older, I always felt comforted and validated through her experiences because they were not far off from my own. Even though it has been at the very least 10 years since I have read an Alice book, I still go back every so often and realize how much my younger years were shaped by these novels in the most positive way. I’m sure it’s been said many times before, but Alice feels like an old friend. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for bringing a character to life that girls can look up to and realize that it is okay to grow up and be who you are.

Thank you so much.  I wish I had had an Alice to help me when I was growing up.

Thank you for everything!

I’m writing to thank you for giving me a friend. Although I grew up in a large family, I was a very lonely child. Now at 25, I’ve never stopped thinking of Alice, who was my constant companion through every stage of childhood. My mom read Starting with Alice with me in 2002 right before I went into the 3rd grade. Every year I read another of your books including Alice on Board the summer before I went into college. I’ve put off Now I’ll Tell You Everything in an attempt to keep her story going in my mind. I hope that you know how many lessons you’ve taught through Alice’s mistakes and experiences that I and other girls would have had to learn the hard way. Including giving girls the confidence to declare “I have to pee, I’ll be right back” a lesson Alice learned before her first real date with Patrick (that was mind-blowing to me and my pre-teen friend group). I could never thank you enough for the gift of Alice, a real, whole person that you made up in your head. She, and you, have made such a positive impact on my life, and I’ll never forget that.

I’m so glad it helped.   Yes, I was also the girl who supposedly  “never went to the bathroom” on a date.  In fact, eating in front of a boyfriend was embarrassing to me.  I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must have made my dates.   (“What in the world is wrong with this girl?”)  The more accepting we become of ourselves, the more comfortable it makes those around us. Thanks so much for writing to me!

wow

Hello Mrs. Naylor I love your books It all started when I got some books in a bag of hand me downs and I read them and I instantly fell in love with reading thanks so much you inspire me

You’ve made my day!

Alice shiloh

Hello alice it’s me shiloh I’m a guy skype messenger

I love cats and dogs dogs bark alot

Uh….okay?

the books

I loved Alice so much but I really wanted more memories of her mother if you added her mother to your books what would her personality be?

That would have been a good thing to do.  She was quite young, though, when her mother died, and she might not have had a lot of memories.  Knowing what a good husband she picked out when she married Ben, though, you’d have to think that her personality was much the same as his.

how they met

I am a really, like really big fan of Alice and I want to say that throughout the entire series I prayed that Alice married Patrick and when they finally got married and lived happily ever after I literally jumped out of my seat with joy and cheered! I always loved the love story between Alice and Patrick, it was a bumpy road but in the end Patrick realized that he couldn’t love anyone as much as he loved Alice and he decided that’s who he wanted to spend his life with, that’s beautiful! My heart melted when Alice told her daughter the story of how she and Patrick met and she remembered how embarrassed she was when she saw him again at school but she did mention she couldn’t believe that same boy was the man she married and had children with, it was amazing and astounding to me too. How did you meet your husband?

In a book discussion group!

Pamela’s miscarriage

Hi, let me start by saying I love Alice, it’s my favorite series of all time! I have to be honest when I say that Pamela was one of my favorite characters because she was so shameless and she always found a way to shock Elizabeth and Alice with as much as she knew about boys and sex. We all know that Pamela got pregnant at 17 and she expressed to her friends many times that she didn’t want to have kids but was there a small part of her that wanted to have that baby? Was a part of her sad when she miscarried or was she relieved all together? Why did she break up with Tim after the miscarriage?

I’d have to find the book and read it again to answer your questions and I simply don’t have time.  I’m in the middle of writing a very long novel and can barely take time to keep this blog going, so the reading is on you.  I think that Pamela was very relieved to have miscarried.  She did not want children then, and as I remember it, she did not want them later.  So she was true to herself.  She probably was not terribly in love with Tim to begin with, but felt that if she were pregnant she would need his support.  Once the miscarriage was over, she needed a guy who would be as careful NOT to get her pregnant as she was going to have to be herself.