Didn’t Realize it was an Entire Series!

Question:

I just wanted to tell you that the Alice series is so wonderful!  I was given my first Alice book, The Agony of Alice, as a gift when I was in 4th grade.   As a very skinny and awkward tomboy, I found much comfort in The Agony of Alice because she was such a relatable character.  I read it over and over again.  It was my absolute favorite childhood book.
What I didn’t realize was that it was an entire series!  About a year ago ( I am 31 now) I was at the library with my 3 sons and saw the rack of Alice books.  My heart skipped a beat!  I began to read the entire series.  As an adult, I now look at Alice as the daughter that I will never have.  While I read, I imagine Alice being my little girl, growing up and dealing with all the things that girls have to face.  Since I will never experience these things with my own daughter, I experience them through Alice.  In her own way, she fills the small void that I have in my life.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my sons more than anything and I am sure they will have their own coming of age things for me to deal with, but it is different than a daughter.
Thank you for being there for me as a child and now as an adult as well.
I hope you never stop writing because there are many of us, girls and women, who will never stop reading about Alice!
 

Phyllis replied:

It’s so wonderful to hear from adults who still love the Alice books.  I have two sons whom I love dearly too, but no daughters, so writing the Alice books was sort of like raising my own daughter.  It’s a whole lot easier to raise a daughter on paper than it is in real life–sons too.  But I’ve very much enjoyed my time as her parent.  Thank you for writing to me.