Alice Blog
Will Read Alice Books When I’m 99
Question:
Like so many readers have stated, I have been reading the Alice series for many years-probably closing on a decade now! Alice has seen me through the realities of middle and high school, and all the things that go along with that. The past few years have unfortunately not been easy for me, in particular this past year and a bit, as my mom was diagnosed with cancer, underwent many different treatments-all of which failed-and eventually succombed in early November. Although I am 20, I can still definitely feel the same feelings of wanting a ‘mother figure’ that Alice felt and searched for. Over the years I have kept the Alice books on the bookshelf right beside my bed, and more than once I have pulled one out in the middle of the night. I have favourite chapters in each, but I do think that some of my favourite moments have to be in the first two published books, The Agony of Alice and Alice in Rapture, although I laughed VERY hard during the chapter where Elizabeth causes a fire by tossing her push-up bra in the dryer. I’m not one who laughs a lot, but Alice has definitely helped with that. Thanks for remaining very real and true to what kids and teenagers-and adults for that matter-go through. Never once have I read something in the Alice series and thought “that wouldn’t really happen” and that’s important. I have a feeling that if I live to 99 I will still be pulling out Alice from time to time.
Phyllis replied:
Then I hope you have a very long life and will still be enjoying Alice books when you’re 99! I have favorite scenes too, and many of these involve Lester.
Next Book
Question:
Your Alice series is amazing! I feel like I really connect with this series. I
finally got to 'Alice in Charge' and I was sad cause I finished all the books! I
would like to know if your writing another Alice book to follow. I would love to
know what happens in her crazy life!
Phyllis replied:
Look for “Incredibly Alice” around May 10th.
Why a month early?
Question:
Hi P.N., I want to start off by saying that your Alice series is fantastic. I’ve been reading the books since third grade. I feel like I can connect to Alice as if she were a real person, which is really great since most of the other books I read I feel like I cannot relate to the characters in any way. Thank you SO much for creating the Alice series!!!! Also, I have a question for you. I know that a new Alice book comes out each June. I recently went on Barnes and Noble’s website to see when Incredibly Alice would be available, and the date they had was May 10. I guess I’m asking why Incredibly Alice is coming out a month earlier? I’m just a little confused.
Phyllis replied:
I don’t know why it’s a month early. So much depends on when the copy-editor finishes her job, when it’s sent to the printer, how many books are in line before it, etc. etc. If it comes out on May 10, hooray! We’ll all have our copies early.
Worshipped Your Books since 4th grade
Question:
Thank you so much for sending me the Alice poster. I’ve worshiped your books since 4th grade. At my library, if you read a book in the summer and did a book report on it, you would receive a free book. I remember doing this the summer before 4th grade. I sat at the shelf looking for a book to bring home. Every book I looked at seem too “baby” or “grown up” for a 4th grader. I skimmed through each book when I came across a book with a blue cover. Blue being my favorite color at the time, I slid the book out to see it. The book was Alice in Blunderland. I chose the book and went home and read it in one sitting. Ever since that summer, I’ve checked out each Alice book and read it. Each summer I look forward to going to the library and checking out each Alice book. I’m pretty sure I’ve read each book in the series at least 10 times! I’ve raved about the books to each of my friends and my family knows in the summer, the book(s) that will appear most often in my hands are an Alice book. I am an avid reader, and if I liked reading then, I adore it now!
Offense doesn’t have levels to it
| Question:
Why does Amy’s confession of her encounter with Mr. Granger make Alice think that it sounds like less of an offense? How can ANYTHING about that be “less”? It bothers me that people think that that type of offense has any ‘levels’ to it. If someone crosses the line, that’s that. I say this because a boy with down syndrome once hurt me. But by the time I understood that I needed to tell someone, it had long passed. Then people told me that there wasn’t anything I could do anyways, because the boy was mentally disabled. But that doesn’t mean he hurt me any ‘less’. |
Phyllis replied:
You are quite right that just because Amy wasn’t as emotional when she reported what Mr. Granger had done to her, it was less of an offense. But I think it’s natural that Alice, wanting so much to see him brought to justice, would worry that Amy’s admission that she had kissed her teacher might make the principal take it less seriously. Fortunately, he did not.
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.
Question:
Hi:) I’m not sure if this is okay- writing to you more than once. Considering there are others who may have not already written to you. I just wanted to say thanks for writing back the first time. I got SO excited and my teachers were proud of me. Well, one thing i forgot to mention was how awesome your books are. They prepare me for what’s coming- broken hearts, different classes, boys and their expectations- and i find myself racing through them. I love they way it relates perfectly to what’s really happening. So about a year ago, me and my family moved due to neighbor issues and what not. It was the perfect house. I imagined myself going back and visiting my parents with my kids as years passed. When we moved, my heart was broken and i cried myself to sleep. My world was somehow rearranged. But i realized I’ve matured over the year. My personality, i’m working towards becoming a disciple, and everyone thinks that I’m older then i am (truth is i wish i was) is an example. I also think it was meant to be. We are close to the neighbors now- they’re as social as us and we hang out with them often. Well, i have a guy friend that’s older than me and we text often. He’s the middle child of one of the neighbors. We used to text almost every minute of the day but it has slowed down a little. I’m pretty sure it’s because we’ve ran out of things to talk about. When we do text, I feel like I don’t know how to respond to things that make me sound mature but fun. Even though he’s older, he’s respectful, family oriented, appropriate, and he even babysits. So don’t think it’s what he texts that is hard to respond to. It’s mostly our age difference. He’s four years older. I’ve found myself dreaming about him and my friends say he might like me. Most boys older wouldn’t bother to want to know someone younger- most of the time. Since we’re both teenagers I feel like it should be easy but… I don’t know. If you have advice, that would be great. Not necessarily things to respond but how.
Phyllis replied:
Why not just enjoy his friendship for now and not worry so much about age difference, since you’re not in a romantic situation or feel that you are being asked to do things you aren’t ready for. What I would suggest is that you save your text messages until you really have something to say. Long strings of bland ramblings can get boring pretty quick. You want him to perk up when he sees he has a message from you, not slip his cell phone back in his pocket and think, Whatever.
Got Lost in your Books
Question:
I don’t know if you will even get this email but i just wanted to try. I would really like to know when your next alice book is coming out. I have been searching the web but i couldn’t find anything. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places. I am a huge fan and you probaly get these kind of emails all the time but i just really wanted you to know that alice has helped me so much over these few years. These past few years have been really hard on me (My family moved to Israel) and whenever i was feeling depressed i just picked up one of your books and i just got lost in the book. The books are such a great source of comfort and i really, really love them.
The Loss of a Mother
High school boys
Phyllis replied:
Whoa. Slow down a little. Somebody simply said he likes you, he didn’t ask you to marry him. If I were you, I’d concentrate more on having fun with guy friends and not trying to figure out the mathematics of it all.
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