Alice Blog

Boxed sets of the Alice books

Forgive me if this is a question you’ve answered previously, but will there ever be a box set of all the Alice books together? I’d have all my old original copies (I’m 32) and they’re dry and a little crackly and I’d love to give my daughter (she’s six, I’m planning ahead) just the whole collection someday (fifth or sixth grade probably, I remember it was the summer between seventh and eighth grade that Alice the Brave entered my life, never to be far from me again, that book is like a talisman for me)…otherwise I hope you’re having an alright isolation, and thank you thank you thank you for shaping my life with such a normal girl, before the world became saturated with superheroes, I’m so so grateful for Alice, and Elizabeth and Pamela and Patrick and Lester and Alice’s dad and Aunt Sally and Cousin Carol❤️

Since you’ve found the place on my website to ask this question, I’ll simply direct you to the Alice books.  If you follow the moving banner, you’ll see the three different sets of the Alice books, which you can purchase through any bookstore.  The first set are the paperback editions of all the books of Alice in grade school. The next set are the paperback editions of all the books of Alice in middle school.  The third set are Alice’s high school years, plus the final book that takes her from age 18 to 60.   What a wonderful gift for your daughter.   But if I were you I would purchase them now.  These are a limited edition.  Write again if you can’t find these on this website.

Suggested Age for Alice books

Hi, so I found the very first Alice book at my local thrift store when I was in third/fourth grade, I can’t remember exactly? I had a question about the suggested age for reading the books.
Ever since I found the first one, my mom got me the next book for my birthday/Christmas. I am now in 7th grade and have read up to Achingly Alice, when Alice is in 8th grade. Do you think what happens in the next books is appropriate, or should I wait until next school year?
Thank you, I love the Alice books ❤

Different families have different feelings about what is appropriate, but if you were my daughter I would encourage you to read whatever interested you, and to come to me if you had any questions or anxieties about what you read.  I think that if you are reading the books in which Alice is the same age as you are, you would not come upon anything too startling.  I know that some parents have questioned the book “Lovingly Alice” in which she asks her Dad how babies are conceived.  I remember asking my Mom that question when I was nine and I found the answers quite interesting.  So interesting, in fact, that I wrote a little book called “Manual for Pregnant Women” with illustrations by the author.  I remember showing it to my mother, and she probably complimented me for m book  as she always did, but that book mysteriously disappeared and I never saw it  again.   I was always grateful that she answered all my questions.  Remember that all children wonder about things they aren’t ready for in real life, and that’s the way we learn.

Wish I Could have Told Her

I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you so much for writing the Alice series. I received a copy of Reluctantly Alice when I was 11 in 1995 from my grandmother (and the information that we are distantly related through her). Very shortly after, she passed away from cancer, but I kept reading the series. It has meant a lot to me, like an extra long love letter from my grandmother.

I stopped reading them once I graduated high school and I’m just now finishing up the series as an adult. I had to pause and let myself feel some strong feelings as the series went on and Alice became more inclusive of her queer classmates and friends. I came out as bi 6 years ago, and one of the things I wish most in the world is that I could’ve told my grandmother and heard her tell me she loved and accepted me. Thank you for letting me have that by proxy. I know she never got to read about Lori and Leslie, but since she felt it was important for me to read the series, it felt like being given that acceptance, decades later.

I wish the very best for you and your family. Thank you, again and again.

It’s always great when you find out that someone else’s odyssey matches your own in some way; that something you thought unmentionable about yourself is simply part of the human spectrum, and others deal with it quite acceptably. It becomes a plus in their lives, not a minus.    You obviously had a wise and caring grandmother, and I have the feeling she would be very happy for you.  I’m so glad you found the Alice series.   Enjoy!

 

Only children…

Hello, I am 15 years old and have been reading the “Alice books” for some time now, love them. I don’t know if you’ll get to me, but we are in quarantine so maybe you will be able to respond. But what I have come to realize and what confuses me is how many only children you put in this particular series. I know barely any only children, only a couple of them at most. Most of my friends have 1-2 siblings, but only children, at least where I live are not common at all. So my question to you is why you seemed to put so many in the series? (keep in mind I have read through the first book of Alice’s senior year, so most of them, but not all). Patrick is an only child and that gets pushed as a plot point in a lot of parts of the books, Pamela is an only child, although her parents got separated in 8th grade, Elizabeth was an only child until a lot later on in I think 8th grade as well, Alice clearly isn’t but Lester is a whole lot older than her, same case with Gwen, not quite the same as being an only child but a lot different than having a sibling with you at home all of the time. Mark was also an only child before his death, which was also discussed frequently. I am not sure, but I have no recollection of Brian, Keeno, Jill, Karen, Justin, Sam, Penny, or Amy (main characters of the “gang” although Sam, Penny and Amy aren’t really members of the “gang”, but I digress) having any siblings either, unless I have forgotten or you just didn’t mention them at all, or often. As well as her cousin Carol being an only child also. I am not trying to hate because I LOVE the Alice series, it has just confused me that almost every character has no siblings at all, and if they do, they have a significant age gap (Alice and Lester, Elizabeth and Nathan, Gwen and her brother, can’t remember his name)

Thanks so much love your books!!!!!

What a fascinating letter!  In all the 28 years those books were being published–each one carefully written by me, read aloud to my critique group before I submitted it, read with suggested revisions by my editor and the copy editor and in the hundreds of emails I have received from fans, no one else has brought that up.  And I hadn’t even realized it until now.  I think the answer is that there are already so many characters in the Alice series, it was hard enough to make sure that each had their own personality and look, much less add brothers and sisters, that would need a reason to be in the story, but I could have mentioned a few of them.  Looking back on it all, however, Mark definitely needed to be an only child.  The plots seemed more real with Pamela and Elizabeth only children too, but beyond that there could have been some siblings in minor roles.  I’m glad you  loved the series in spite of all the “onlys.”

 

 

 

Thank you for an incredible series

Dear Ms. Naylor, I just wanted to thank you for creating such an incredible series. I think I started reading the Alice books when I was 10 or 11, and I’m now 25 and still marvelling over how wonderful the world of Alice is, and how great it was to have in my life, and how important the series was to me in my youth. The last book in the series is just the perfect ending to the stories of characters I’ve come to love over time. I really appreciated being able to go on the journey with Alice and Co. as they grew up, and as I grew up too. I’m the type of person who prefers to borrow books from the library, but “Now I’ll Tell You Everything” is one book that I have my own copy of and will cherish it forever.
Thank you for creating such a great world of Alice, thank you for giving it the perfect ending, and thank you for writing such fantastic stories.

I’m so glad that the ending was “perfect” for you.  I wrote it with a lump in my throat, knowing that I had to end the series sometime.  Each year I reserved six months to write another Alice book, and it was always a pleasure.  Thanks so much for your email.

Books about life

 

The Alice series was very important to me growing up. I read each book multiple times when I was slightly younger than Alice, and they helped me approach each new year of school with confidence.
I am now in my third year of college, and I re-read Now I’ll Tell You Everything during a visit home. Reading this again brought me right back to the experience of being fully immersed in a book, and it was wonderful to reflect on the similarities and differences between my life and Alice’s.
While I have read many incredible books, I rarely encounter a story/character that I relate to in the same way as I do to Alice. I love to read about many things, but one of the most important aspects of a book for me is character development. If I care deeply about a book’s protagonist, I’m happy to read about them doing just about anything. I have recently been struggling to find books with these kinds of characters, especially ones about young women. I really value books that I can relate to that reflect the time of life I am in, but I find that many books that are written for young women lack depth.
Since re-reading Now I’ll Tell You Everything, I have been on the lookout for books that I can deeply connect to. Do you have any suggestions? I am not looking for a “grown up version of Alice,” just for something new to read that will be meaningful, relatable, and engrossing. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter to me what the book is about. Alice’s life was very different from mine, but she was a companion to me growing up. I suppose that now I am looking for more companions, because this growing up process is going to take a lifetime.
Thank you so much for your wonderful writing. The Alice series has brought me, and many others, so much joy. If you have any book suggestions, I would love to hear them!

 

I’m so pleased that the Alice series meant that much to you.  I’m afraid I spend more time writing than I do reading, and wish I could send a whole list of books you might enjoy.  A friend suggested the author Elizabeth Olgilvie who has written a trilogy (High Tide at Noon, etc.) that takes place in New England. Trying to remember books with a young woman as main character is what’s difficult. I’m embarrassed to mention some of my own you might enjoy–not at all like Alice, but with stories of their own:  Blizzard’s Wake, Send No Blessings, and Ice, come to mind.  I’ll also mention two of my novels for adults you might enjoy–Revelations and Unexpected Pleasures.  I’ll have to say that I probably enjoyed Unexpected Pleasures almost more than anything else I’ve written because I loved the two main characters so much–a shy 32 year-old bridgeworker and a 15 year-old feisty girl from a trailer park .  Each chapter was a joy to write.  Most of these books are available as used books–you can get them on Amazon and other places for $5 or so if your library doesn’t have them any longer.

Is there 2 different series of Alice?

I read “I like him he likes her”, I do not know if I need to read the other books. Is there 2 Alice series. Do I read “Now I’ll tell you everything:?

It can be a little confusing, I know.  There is only one Alice series, 28 books, and each book is published both in hard-cover and paperback.  Because the books about Alice in high school were so popular, the editor decided that after these books had been published in both hardcover and paperback, they would also bind up the three books of her freshman year into a very thick paperback, and do the same with the three books of her sophomore year, junior year, and senior year.  And then, because the final years of Alice cover so many pages, that would come out in a final thick book all by itself.  So I Like Him, He Likes Her is the bind-up of Alice’s freshman years (the books Alice Alone, Simply Alice, and Patiently Alice). “It’s Not Like I Planned it this way” is the bind-up of the 3 books of her sophomore year;  Please Don’t Be True is a bind-up of the three books of her junior year, and You and Me and the space in Between is the bind-up of her senior year books.  Don’t read Now I’ll tell you everything until you’ve read all the others.  Enjoy!

Thank you! I love your series!

I am fourteen years old and I am a huge reader and once my mom took me to a bookstore a few months back I saw your first few collection books and I read the back and it sounded like an amazing book so we bought them, once I finished a few other books I was reading I started the first Alice book and all I could say was wow I read the book in one weekend and after I was done with the second book and halfway towards the third book my mom ordered me the next one and it was gone in two days now, but we ended up buying the last one because I am addicted to this series I finished it in one day, the number of times I’ve cried, laughed and feared for the characters have shown me a lot about growing up as I said earlier I am 14 and I am starting my freshman year soon in a few months but living through the world with Alice’s point of view I am more ready than ever. I was wondering how did you come up with these ideas for this amazing series, Thank you.

I enjoyed your email very much, and am so glad you are reading the series.  You didn’t mention any titles, though, so I’m not sure just which of the Alice’s books you have read.  This may give you information you already know, but there are 28 books in the series beginning with the three prequels.  So the very first of the whole series is Starting with Alice.  And the final book, taking her from age 18 to 60, is Now I’ll Tell You Everything.  I wanted to write a book about a girl without a mom, who’s being raised by her dad and brother.  (That book, The Agony of Alice, is actually number 4 in the series.)  Once it was published, readers asked for more, and I told my editor I’d make it a series if I could write only one a year and that Alice could grow a little older in each book.   She agreed.   Happy reading!

Just praise from Germany

 

it took me long to write you. I just wanted to say thank you for your Alice series. I got the second book of this series for my 10th birthday. It didn`t interest me at the beginning – I had a lot of other books to read. But when I read your book eventually I was captured. I bought all Alice books which I could find in German (my native language). Then – because I couldn`t find more – bought them in English. As Alice grew older I grew older – we were always about the same age. And she had so many problems I had myself. She was perhaps like a friend sometimes. I read some of the books 3, 4 times. The Alice overtook me: She went very quickly 65 while I am still “only” 29 years old. I wanted for a long time give you a praise for those books and I wanted to tell you how much they meant for me. 19 years after my first Alice book I do it with this small E-Mail. Thanks a lot and all the best.

I’m so glad you were able to finish reading the books in English.  And it was wonderful knowing that you grew up with Alice.  Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me after all these years.  It means a lot.

Thank you for this series!

Hello Ms. Naylor, Having just finished reading the final Alice book, I feel compelled to reach out and thank you for writing this series. Each of these books has brought tears to my eyes for all manner of reasons, primarily that I see so much of myself in Alice and like many readers I see her as a friend. Thank you for showing the rest of Alice’s life in the final book, which I thought was wrapped up just beautifully. All of these characters have felt like real people to me for so many years as I have paced myself while reading the books, and saying a final “goodbye” was hard but I will never forget them! These books have a special place on my bookshelf and in my heart, so thank you again!

Thank you so much for your email.  It was hard for me to say a final goodbye too.  For 28 years I had spent six months of each year writing an Alice book, and it was hard to let go.  But I had so many other books I wanted to write. When Alice wasn’t being me, she also seemed my best friend.   I’m delighted that the books so much to you.