Alice Blog

My childhood reading Alice

Comment:

I started reading this series in middle school and fell in love with not only the books, but with reading in general. I’m 25 now and when I read them over again it takes me back to my childhood. I owned a couple of the books as a kid and recently purchased the whole series to have. Hopefully my daughter loves them just as much as I did. So thankful for a book series that felt so real to me. Can’t thank you enough.

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad they meant that much to you!   It’s the perfect way to read the Alice series–you get to see Lester as a teenager forming a band, and slowly you watch him mature; you get to see the relationship between Alice and her brother deepen–understand some of the father’s problems.  Find out what happens to each of Alice’ friends.  What a wonderful gift to give your daughter!

poster

Comment:

Hi Mrs. Naylor! I’m sorry to add to your mail. I just wanted to ask about something that I heard about getting an Alice poster for free? My sisters birthday is coming up, so I thought that would be a fun thing to get her. How would I do that?

Phyllis replied:

Email me at Phyllis_naylor@comcast.net  giving me your full name and address, including zip code, and your sister’s first name.

The things that aunt sally and elizabeth say

Comment:

This is a question about the things that Aunt Sally say. Sally is one of my favorites, but sometimes I wonder if I need to listen to the things she says.

Phyllis replied:

Oh, dear Aunt Sally!  What would we do without her.   She had something to say about almost everything–from what kind of gifts were proper to give a boyfriend to wondering why–the way they were built–men wore trousers instead of dresses.  I would take everything Aunt Sally says with a grain of salt and give her an A for effort.

 

Alice Book Club

Comment:

Hi, Ms. Naylor! I thought it’d be fun to share with you that this year, a group of my 8th grade girls discovered the ALICE series, and they read all of them and met every Thursday in the library to discuss. I have many book clubs at my school that are centered on different topics, but this is the first ALICE club! They had the best time, and I wish you could hear the excitement and laughter I heard week after week. Thank you for your books and for helping so many kids over the years love reading. I do have a picture of this club I can email if you would like to see this awesome bunch.

Phyllis replied:

I’d love a photo of these girls!  I’d also love to know which of the Alice books have they liked the best, and which has been the most helpful to them.

Were you mad?

comment:

I love your books. Thank you for writing them. But a while ago I tried to see the movie…. and oh my gosh. My first thought was ‘This is nothing like the books!’ My second thought was, ‘Alice doesn’t seem nice, like a friend that I would come for advice like she seems in the books.’ My third thought was, ‘I wonder what the heck Ms. Naylor thinks about this!!’. So I decided to ask. Were you mad that they decided to not at all commit to the feeling and themes of the books? Or do you not agree with me and think it was more alike than I’m saying? Please write back. I’ll just tell you this… if it were my book, I’d be furious.

Phyllis replied:

I wasn’t mad, but I was disappointed.   They did  allow me to see the script ahead of time and I made some corrections, but I understand what they were trying to do–make a movie based very loosely on The Agony of Alice.  They had the idea, I think, that if it was very successful, they might do more of the Alice books.  But in trying to make their first movie to include everything that they thought movie goers would want to see, they lost the essence of the Alice books.  I liked the casting of Alice and Mrs. Plotkin, but some of the others weren’t anything like the characters in the book.  Lester, for example, looked even younger than Alice, not seven years older.  I think that people who had never read the Alice books might like the movie.  But obviously the screen writer and director had not read the rest of the Alice books.  If they had, I think they would have made the script more like the book and cast the characters correctly.  But the movie business is a very iffy thing; I’m not mad at them, because several of them were connected with the Shiloh movie, which I loved.

Libri di Alice

Carissima scrittrice
dopo tanti anni rileggo i libri che ha scritto di Alice, purtroppo qua in Italia siamo arrivati solo ad:un velo per Alice,non capisco come mai non hanno pubblicato anche gli altri,questo mi dispiace molto perché quando ti appassioni e inizi ad amare le storie e i personaggi..scopri che non hanno più pubblicato niente.
Questo messaggio è per dirle che nonostante tutti questi anni, e con solo 5 libri a disposizione in Italia, sono comunque sempre affascinata quando rileggo Alice,e felice.
Non so niente di lei a dir la verità ma Grazie per queste emozioni che ho provato leggendo Alice, un grosso abbraccio
Ilaria

Phyllis’s translation:

Dear Author,  After many years I re-read the book you wrote about Alice, alas we have only a few about Alice in Italy. I don’t know why they have not published the others. I am very unhappy about that because I adore the story and the characters..and I find that they have not published anything else.This is to say that despite so many years, and with only 5 books in Italy, I am however always fascinated when I reread Alice.  I am truly grateful for these emotions that I experience reading Alice. A big hug.

Phyllis replied:

I’m sorry too that the Italian publisher did not translate and reprint more of the Alice series, because there are 28 books in all for you to enjoy.  If you wrote to the publisher of those translated books and tell him how much you want to read the rest, that would be the best thing to do–especially if your friends write also.  A publisher pays attention to his readership.  Good luck!

I still love Alice and Including Alice CD

Comment:

Hi Alice,
Like so many other readers, I grew up reading the Alice series. I read the first one when I was 13, and I bought each new one as soon as it came out. I just started rereading the series again, and I still love them at age 32. Thank you for writing such an amazing series with relatable characters.
Also, I saw a question from a little while ago asking about the CD that came with Including Alice. You said you don’t have a copy. I have the songs on my computer, and I could upload them to Google Drive or email them to you if you would like to have them. The CD was called Sylvia’s And Ben’s Wedding Music, and there are three songs with piano/string trio.

Phyllis replied:

I believe I answered this email via my private email address.  I’m so glad you enjoyed the books.  The first 1000 copies of that particular book had a little CD in the front of it–some classical pieces that a musician friend of mine composed for Sylvia and Ben’s “wedding.”   We did it just for fun.

Does Sylvia not want a baby?

Comment:

Why did Sylvia get a hysterectomy? I never really understood that.

Phyllis replied:

A hysterectomy is performed for medical reasons–not something a women just decides to do.  There are easier ways to prevent pregnancies.  It’s possible that if Sylvia had really wanted children of her own, she would have married before she met Ben and had children.  In her case, she probably had symptoms which made her doctor feel that she should have her uterus removed to prevent something more serious.

Alice books so real

Comment:

This is my first time reading your books and I like Alice already. I also think your books are real.sometimes I think gee that happened to me 😀😀😀😀😀😊😊😊

Phyllis replied:

And a lot of it happened to me.

Thank you!

Comment:

I just wanted to say thank you for writing this series.I found the first book when I was 12 years old and even now at 19 I am still loving following along Alice on her journey. These books have brought me laughter but also tears, and I have never found this kind of connection with any book before. Thank you for bringing happiness into my life in a way I never knew was possible.

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad that you and Alice found each other!  Thanks for letting me know.