Alice Blog

Thank You!!!!!!!!!

Comment:

I just wanted to say thank you SO much for writing the Alice books. I feel like I am growing up with Alice, Pamela, Elizabeth, and all the others. I stumbled on one of the books a while ago and ever since they are all I want to read. I almost feel as if I know them – your books have truly inspired me. If I had the option to change anything about them I wouldn’t (except maybe that they ended). So thank you so much for writing these amazing stories. Thank you.

Phyllis replied:

I’m just delighted that you like the books so much.  They were a lot of fun to write, especially the conversations between Alice and Lester.  When I agreed to do a series on Alice, I’m glad that I was allowed to have her grow older in each book so that you could see her and her family and friends all changing and growing and yet, in some ways, staying the same.  I hope you’ll be able to locate and read all 28 books.

How did you know?

Comment:

I love your Alice Series! I read each of them. It’s very relatable to me as a girl growing up. Many of the things that Alice encounters happen to me. I wanted to ask, how did you come up with what to write next for the next book?

Phyllis replied:

Mostly I thought about what year of school she would be in and what was happening with me and my own friends back then.  It had to relate with schools today, of course, but my two sons were around Alice’s age, so I got a lot of insight from them.

Are the Alice Books based on your own experiences?

Comment:

I love you so much! Thank you for writing the wonderful Alice series, everything in them is true and my sister and I read them together. They books brought us closer together and we talk about the things that happen in them. My friends and I remind me very much of Liz, Pam, and Al. I wanted to say that reading The Grooming Of Alice helped my friend who was too hung up on losing weight, I showed it to her and it helped her. Also, a thing very similar to what happened to Elizabeth in the scene where she gets her period at Mark Stedminsters pool happened to me! And I wanted to ask- is Alice based on you or anything that happened in your life?

Phyllis replied:

A lot of girls write to me about liking “The Grooming of Alice” for discussing very personal things.  Many things that appear in these books either happened to me or friends of mine, though mostly they come from my imagination.  But there is an element of truth in almost everything in the Alice books–either I heard about it, read about it, or experienced something like it, and then turned it over to my imagination for the story.

Love for Alice

hi! I just have to say how much I love the Alice series. I received “Alice in blunderland” as a gift in third grade and then I read the series until the books started becoming more mature. I then resumed reading them in fifth grade and finished then so quickly. I can’t possibly put into words how much I love your books. I sometimes still pick them up and read my favorite parts! I’m in eighth grade now and I’m going into high school next year and I think I might read them again to prepare. I learned so much about friends, boys, live, relationships and everything in your books. Alice is such a role model and one of my favorite book characters ever. I can’t think about that scene in the last book when her dad dies and she leaves the parking lot crying. Even though I read that scene almost three years ago I still remember it. And thank hinking about it still hurts my heart. just wanted to say thank you for writing such an amazing series. They are something that I will cherish forever.

Phyllis replied:

I knew in advance some of the major things that would happen of course, and I found myself pretty melancholy when I had to write about it–Mark’s death, in particular.  But Alice lived through them , found meaning and strength in facing them and managed to be happy again.. I hope you were able to get the whole series–Alice from 8 to 60.  Thanks for letting me know how much they meant to you.

Thank you for Alice

comment:

I just wanted to say thank you very much for writing the Alice series, since I picked up one of the books, Alice on Board, in 5th grade which is 3 years ago now, I have fallen in love with the series. I got the full series for Christmas 2 years ago and since then I read all the books in order once, and all of them just randomly 1-2 times more, Alice, Lester Ben, and Silvia have become like another family to me and when I’m having a bad day I pick these books up knowing Alice, Liz, Pamela, and Gwen won’t judge me. These books have changed my world for the better and I’m so grateful you wrote them.

Thank you so very much,

Phyllis replied:

I love hearing that you read them all in order–it’s fun, I think, to watch Lester grow up too.  Sometimes when I’m having a bad day, I remember certain scenes too and look them up–especially conversations between Alice and Lester.  Those were such fun to write.

Wish there was a character more like me

Comment:

Like so many others, the Alice books were a great source of comfort for me in middle school and high school. I felt like Alice was a close friend, and to be honest I often forgot she isn’t real.

It did not escape my notice, however, that the character of Amy was the only character with a disability. I’m in a wheelchair myself. I graduated in the top fifteen at my prep school and attended a highly-regarded liberal arts college. But there is still such a stigma around having a disability. I’d say I identify more with Alice than Amy. In high school I had similar issues with friends and guys, and I remember feeling a kinship because I lost my virginity at the same age as Alice. Amy often felt like a means of teaching Alice a lesson. I kind of wish a character could have been introduced that does have unique struggles but is just like any other girl.

Phyllis replied:

Good point!  There was Molly, of course, who had cancer and an uncertain future.  Elizabeth, who had been molested.  The two girls who identified as lesbian…  There are so many different definitions of disability, and an author simply has to go with a character that appeals to her for a number of different reasons.  I’ve had girls criticize me for not having a diabetic in the series.  Not having Alice stutter.  Not being more politically active, etc.  I do understand.  We always look for someone we can identify with more, but the author simply has to pick and choose.  I’m glad, though, that you did feel a kinship with Alice.  Thanks for writing to me.

Producing Alice?

Comment:

I was just reading your answers to the Alice questions and you said that you would make the Alice series into movies and I just thought that was an amazing idea. To capture Alice’s life in a lens would be incredibly hard as nothing can capture the true feeling you get when reading the Alice books but it would be so cool to portray the story in a different way. This leads me to my actual question: would you ever let the Alice series become a series of movies that are just like the books? or would you rather it be loosely based like Alice Upside Down? Or not adapted like the books at all? I would really like to know because I feel like it would be one heck of a series! Thank you so much for writing the books, The Alice series has been my favorite book series when I was nine years old. You’re the best!

 

Phyllis replied

I would probably like them to be as much like the books as possible.  Once a scriptwriter begins changing the characters or adding scenes that change the whole flavor of the story, then the real stories are watered down or blown up so much that they don’t seem like real life.  But a movie can also add drama where it helps the story, so I can’t say I would be against a really good TV series.  So much depends on the director, the casting, and the screenplay….

Invitation To Speak To Writers

Comment:

I would like You to speak to my Writers group and have always admired the versatility in your writing and realistic portrayal of characters and life situations.Would you speak to my Writers group about the Alice series and daughters who have grown up without mothers?

Phyllis replied:

I’m sorry, but I do very little speaking right now.  I’m deep, deep into a very long novel I’m working on, and don’t want to break the “spell.”  But thanks for thinking of me.

Lester’s Philosophy

Comment:

there is a moment in the beginning of I like him he likes her, where Lester tells Alice that the world doesn’t revolve around her and she takes it as philosophy. This was a fantastic moment, but absolutely hilarious. I am just wondering what you think Alice’s definition of philosophy is?

 

Phyllis replied:

I think she imagines that philosophy is a one-liner that she can repeat like a mantra, that will solve all of the problems she encounters in life.

Characters from the Alice series

Comment:

Hi! I’m a huge fan of your Alice books and had a quick question- are Alice, Elizabeth or Pamela based off of yourself or anyone you know/knew in real life? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

 

Phyllis replied:

Both.  Some happened to me, some happened to friends, but mostly I just imagined what would happen next.  Falling down the stairs on her first day of high school happened to my mother back in 1914!   Playing Tarzan with my boyfriend happened to me in fourth grade….