Why did you write it?

Question:

I’ve been reading the Alice books since third grade and they were always fun to read. But now I’m a sophmore in high school and I’m reading Incredibly Alice and It’s frustrating me to no end. Firstly, why did you write it so Jill and Justin get married like that and like NO ONE thought twice about it and were almost encouraging Jill’s golddigging. Last year I had a friend who got pregnant in her senior year, and we were happy for her, but we were still concerned about her future and she certainly wasn’t bragging about it to everyone. Secondly, why did you put the part about the labia? I mean really?! I feel like its just trying to hard, no teenage girl worries about that. Either way I’m enjoying the book, rushed plot and all.

Phyllis replied:

Because Alice and her friends were not being judgmental does not mean they approved of Jill and Justin’s plan to get her pregnant.  Alice has had problems with Jill’s behavior for several years, but Jill and Justin have also been dating exclusively all that time, and it was their answer to the situation with Justin’s mom, however unwise.  As for the worry about labia, I include in the Alice books things that readers write to me about, and I have had a number of letters about the issue of not feeling “normal” down there, mostly because girls aren’t that familiar with the normal variations in female genitalia.  Boys have it easier in that regard.  They can see every part of a guy’s anatomy in the showers at school, but girls’ female parts are largely hidden, even from themselves.  And if they happen upon some pictures in a porn magazine, they tend to compare themselves with what another girl looks like when she’s really exposed, something you just don’t usually see, not even in the showers.