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.