Alice Blog
Question:
I know you get this all the time but…your books are fabulous! Very inspiring! I suggest them to all my friends…I can name a couple that have gone through with the suggestion and are equally obssessed! Thanks so much! The alice series is the best…makes me want to yank out a pen and write myself! And… I mean this with deep feeling…thanks!!
Phyllis replied:
Thank you very much for telling me so.
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
I'm not sure if you ever have gotten a question but I was just
wondering...what's your take in the Twilight Saga? I've read it of
course and it changed my life (it's how I put being obssessed lightly)
and I was wondering if you have ever read them or seen the movies?
Thanks!
Phyllis replied:
I've neither read the books nor seen the movies, but I know they are very popular.
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
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i just wanted to say to the girl who was asking about secret life that its a really good show but does have parts which are innapropiate. i am 11 years old and in fifth grade and i watched every episode. i would say that u should tell ur mom that ur no a little kid anymore but say it nicely. tell her u really wanna her to let u grow u a litle. thats wat i did and now i watch it all the time! hope u get 2 watch it! (its realy interesting)
p.s. i love ur alice series mrs.naylor
p.s.s. to the girl- if u’ve read the alice series then thats says as much stuff as secret life. tell ur mom that. 🙂
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Phyllis replied:
Thank you for your advice. I’ll pass it along to our readers.
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
I am so much like Alice, and I love your books so much. Patrick is such a poite boy, just like my dad, and my dad’s name is Patrick! I am like Alice because I am into jounalism, and I have an annoying brother. I am also like Elizabesth because I am very beautiful and I need the details. Also, I have a question, and I think you’ll know the answer because your imagination. How do I tell a guy that I have a crush on him? He’s my secon’d best friend, he’s really nice, and he cares about me a lot.
One girl who reveiwed your book said that looked at a Maryland phone book under McKinley and found “Benjamin”. Isn’t Alice’s dad named Ben?
Phyllis replied:
Both the name “Ben” and the name “McKinley” are fairly common names, so I imagine there are a lot of them about.
As for your crush, you don’t “tell,” you “show.” You choose to sit by him whenever possible, you share a treat with him, ask him questions about himself, tease him in a good way, tell him you like his shirt, let him catch you watching him, smiling at him, telling other kids nice things about him that you know will find their way back to him–all the things that make him feel good about himself and about you.
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
I just finished reading your book “Alice on Her Way” and I have chosen it to do my English ISU on.
I have to make a media display for this book and was wondering if you had any ideas for things I could put on it. I was thinking of using an object for every major event in the book; ex.car keys for Alice getting her driver’s licence.
P.S. Alice on Her Way is the first of the Alice books that I have read (I didn’t know it was like a series), and I plan on reading all of the rest; I really liked this one!
Phyllis replied:
I think that’s an excellent idea. Go for it!
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
Hi Phyllis! I have something to ask you. So, there’s this boy in my class. He’s mostly sweet but we’re both very opinionated and fight often. We’re usually friends, but the longest we haven’t been is two weeks. Anyway, here’s an email from him that I just got. Today was one of our “bad” days.
***** why do we always fight i mean in math you seemed so nice and just why do we fight and i just wanna say im sorry for all the mean crude rude or whatev stuff before i truly am so lets startover “Hi my names ***** where did you move from?”
I’m 11, by the way. So anyway, again, we’re pretty good friends, but here’s the twist: we used to go out. We went out for like a month but then we broke up (him to me). I’ve liked him on-and-off ever since, and I’m pretty sure I like him now. I replied “Hi I’m **** I just moved here from ****”. Do you think he likes me, or jsut wants to be friends, or is faking the whole thing, or what? I really hope he likes me but I don’t know WHAT to think. Help!
Phyllis replied:
I like his email to you, I like your response, and yes, I think he likes you and wants to be friends. I would keep it at that level and not make more of it than it is.
Posted on: April 17, 2010
Question:
hi phyllis!!! first off, i want to tell you that i have loved loved loved your books since i was in 4th grade. I’m just ending 6th now, but i have read almost all of them. I have written to you before, but it has been months. I’m twelve and three months ago, i got my first period. i was at my friends birthday party and i went upstairs from her basement to go to the bathroom. when i pulled my underwear down, i saw a lot of brown. i had read about getting your period on websites ,and American Girl books, so i thought i had gotten it, but wasn’t sure. i started breathing really fast and when i wiped, i saw red blood. i went downstairs and told my friend, who had gotten her period a few months before. i told my mom and older sister, not my dad. my real questions are: how should i tell him? and how often should i be getting it? I’ve gotten it once since then, but that’s it besides discharge…. thanks a lot!!!! i love your books!
Phyllis replied:
Very often periods are irregular for a while when you first begin, so you might want to have a pad available somewhere if you do–in a pocket of a back pack or a zipper pencil bag or something. As for telling your dad, he might already know if your mom told him. If not, why not ask her to tell him? I found that the easiest way to do when I got my first period.
Posted on: April 14, 2010
Question:
There’s this show called The Secret Life of the American Teenager that I really want to watch. It’s like a teenage soap opera. Love, Sex, Betrayal, etc. My mom doesn’t think I’m old enough to watch it. I just turned 13. My teacher said that fifth graders at her church watch it, and she said that she may not even let me watch it when I’m 16! How can I convince my mom that I’m old enough, and mature enough to handle it? Thanks for your time!
Phyllis replied:
Your mom sets the rules for your house, so whatever she says goes, fair or not. One suggestion: ask her to watch it with you so that you can discuss it together afterwards, and you can ask her any questions you might have about what goes on.
Posted on: April 12, 2010
Question:
I wish I could one day thank you in person, but I’m afraid I’m living too far away.
Nevertheless, the fact that I’m living in Switzerland has never stopped me from reading your Alice books.
I think I started reading the Alice books in German when I was 10 or 11 years old. I found the books in our school library after a friend suggested me them.
I can’t describe you how much they ment to me. I was a little, naive, shy girl. My best friend had just moved to Spain that year, and I had a lot of difficulties making new good friends because I always had the feeling that every one else has already found her best friend except that mine was more than 1000 miles away.
I think at that time probabely I started dreaming about another world, another life, a life in America. I was very fascinated about the US and my biggest dream was to go to the US one day. I started dreaming about how my day, my friends, my school, my family’s house would look like. The Alice books helped me a lot imagining this world I created in my mind. I imagined friends like Alice, Pam and Liz, a boyfriend like Patrick. I even imagined Alice being my sister or my best friend and telling me all the stories I was reading about her. I’ve really become very close with Alice and when she didn’t feel good in the book, I was automatically crying, especially all the moments she remebers her mum, or when Patrick broke up. It was as if I could feel what she was going through.
Soon I went to Junior High and High School, and there in the libraries, there were no books about Alice anymore. So, I went every day after school for 20 minutes in every book store we have in town and read the new books because I couldn’t afford to buy all of them. This is how I succeeded to read all the books until the 13., I think.
Then I didn’t stop reading them because I didn’t like them anymore or because I was becoming much older than Alice. But I stopped reading them because whenever I would take one book I’ve already read a few times, I started crying. I started crying because I was so sad that in reality I wasn’t a part of this world and because I remembered the time I first read it and at that time I was dreaming about it becoming true one day to me or to my children but as I’ve grown up I realised it was just fiction. And I just couldn’t deal with it that one day, you’ll write the last book and there would be no Alice anymore. It thought it would feel as if a person died I really cared about.
I know I’m pretty sentimental 🙁 . But aren’t the best stories the ones that make you cry? I know one day when I become a bit braver I’ll read the remaining books too, and when I become even more braver I’ll reread all the books. Today, I just wanted to thank you for giving and making Alice alive to us. I’ve learnd so much from her. I’ve never had a boyfriend and I never talked about sex to anyone, so Alice was like my big, little sister.
And I’ve learned so much about the American culture and lifestyle, too. I still can’t believe that last Christmas I was visiting a friend of mine in Florida. My dream really came true!! Thank you, thank you for giving me the strenght not to loose faith through your books!! I still imagine myself becoming a mother and living somewhere in Maryland, and my kids going to school there and speaking English all day. But whatever future brings along, I am sure I’ll read the Alice books with my daughters.
Yours faithfully,
a Croatian girl (19) from Switzerland
Phyllis replied:
I’m sure that our readers are interested to know what those in other countries think of Alice and of America. Not all places in America are like Alice’s neighborhood, however, and not all girls are like Alice. But I’m so glad that you found a friend in the books, and that you were able to visit at least one state. It’s wonderful that the books have meant so much to you over the years. When the last Alice book is published in 2013, you’ll have a lot of information about Alice to think about for a long time. Thank you for writing.
Posted on: April 12, 2010
Question:
This february of 2010 I went to Mexico, and fell completely in love
with my parents small, not well known, and poor town. Every Febraury
annually there is a fair. I want t go badly next year, or whever I
can. Though times are tough now, and my parents may not be able to
afford five tickets for my family. So I wanted to prove to my parents
that I was resposible, so I have decided to earn my own money to pay
for the ticket and neccessities in Mexico. I don’t plan on going
alone, hopefully I go with my 17 year old brother. Hopefully if I get
enough money my parents will let me go. So far I have $75 … I think.
Have you ever felt like you’d do anything to get to that place, that
little piece of heaven you hae, you own little world. Mexico is also a
place for me to escape and ignore my problems at school. It puts me at
peace it’s my bliss and my everything,. I miss everything about it,
you may think oh small towns, but I’m positive you would like it there
too. ANyone would, if they took the time to see it and breathe in
thclean air and see the blue green river waves flowing smoothly like
silky hair. Amazing. Do you have any ideas on how I could raise my own
money? I’m only 12 and have been told I am mature for my age, normalya mature person wouldn’t be ery stubborn but like I said I’d do
anything to go there in February.
Phyllis replied:
It does indeed sound like a wonderful place and I would probably love it too. Part of your planning, however, should be not just the price of your plane ticket, but where you would stay, who would go with you, and–most of all–whether, even if you had the money, your parents would allow you and your brother to go alone. Assuming that all you would need is money, however, anyone with enough determination to do something should also have the imagination to figure out how to get it done. You know your own family, your own neighborhood, and your own town. What does anyone need that you could offer to do or to give to them? When do you have time to spare that someone else might need? What are your special talents or skills? What have people relied on you to do in the past that was successful? Think of what it is you do best; then figure out who might be able to use this skill, and hire you.
Posted on: April 12, 2010
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