Alice Blog

Alice Helped Prepare Me

Question:

I grew up with Alice. You portrayed her to be so real. We went through the same things and things I had yet to experience, she prepared me for them in a way. I have been a fan of yours for over a decade now (just celebrated my 21st birthday) and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you a million times over.

Phyllis replied:

Happy 21st Birthday!   I’m flattered that it prompted you to write to me.

Annoying Friend

Question:

I was just emailing you to ask for a little advice, maybe big advice but you’re the judge on that. I have this friend at school who has really been annoying me. All she does is muck around in class then she expects me to let her copy my work, she also doesn’t do her homework and expects me to also help her at lunch time, and I have better things to do at lunch. In class she always looks up hot guys on her laptop and I’m like “please can you do your work because I’m not helping you with it later” and she always replies that she’ll do it for homework. But she never does and will come bugging to me later.

I’m not being meanL, it’s just she’s been doing this since the start of the year and I didn’t mind at first but now it’s really getting to me. She’s clingy to, like I tested her once we were like walking and she was sticking to me like glue. So I started walking towards a wall and stopped and she nearly walked into it. I hate it when people are clingy I can’t stand it. Also the other day I was in English class and my teacher just explained one of the tricky question we were supposed to answer, well straight after she explained it my friend turns to me and asks for help. That got us both in trouble.

At the start of the year I had my friends from middle school with me but I sort of distanced myself from them because I felt left out. But now I miss them so much but I can’t just go sit with them again because we are just so different around each other now. I just don’t know what to do and I needed someone to confess to, I can’t tell my friends because they will think I’m being a b*tch. I’ve already told my mum but she says my friend values me a lot and really enjoys my company, but it’s different I don’t know how to tell her without coming off as shallow and unkind, especially because she used to be bullied at school, and I know how that feels.

What would Alice do in this situation?, What would you do? what do you think i should do? should i tell her?

Phyllis replied:

Alice did have this problem.  Don’t you remember her friend Amy, who appears in a number of Alice books?  In “Dangerously Alice,” Alice is mortified when she consents to be photographed with her at a dance.  But  she also saves Amy from embarrassment when some girls play a trick on her.  It’s great that you understand that she used to be bullied, but have you ever considered the fact that she, in a way, is bullying you?  You definitely feel uncomfortable when she repeatedly asks to copy your work.  Or doesn’t pay attention in class and then expects you to fill her in.  I think part of the problem here is that you need to learn to stick up for yourself a little more.

Have a good talk with yourself.  Decide what are definite deal breakers:  copying your work, for one.  It’s plain wrong, and enables her to get by without effort.  You are harming her and her ability to learn when you agree to this, so this is a definite no.  Rehearse what you are going to say.  “Becky, I like you too much to make things harder for you in the future by doing your work for you now.”  She will probably have to get a failing mark on a couple of assignments, have a few meltdowns, and a couple teacher conferences before she “gets it,” but don’t be an enabler.  As far as friendship goes, she will take rejection better if she has an acceptance to look forward to.  Decide on the times you don’t mind having her around; an activity or time you can do something one-on-one with her each week.  Squeeze in a little time for her when you see you can do it easily.  Then tell her simply that you need time alone, time with other people, as well as time with her. Learn to say, “Not now, Becky.  I just want to think about a paper I have to write.”   And single out at least one other girl at school, possibly among your old crowd, whom you could approach to go to a movie with, or just hang out with, and get to know better.  Start widening your circle of friends by eating with someone else at lunch; inviting a new person over on Saturday.  Every close friend once started out as a new person you had to get to know, so be the one to take that first step.

Glad She Didn’t Save Herself for Patrick

Question:
I’m so happy to see you still answer emails. I actually used to write to you all the time years ago, it’s pretty embarrassing the things I probably said or asked. I started reading Alice books when I was in elementary school, and your series is what made me love reading, especially young adult fiction. I’m very shy and the questions you answer in the books through Alice’s curiosity really helped me be in the know without having to be embarrassed and ask questions myself. Anyway, I’ll be 17 in a month and a half and I’m sad to say I fell behind with the Alice series, or reading in general due to being so busy with my junior year. But on a whim I decided to go to my public library to find a couple books for a 12 hour plane ride I was due to endure, and thought, why don’t I see if they have any new Alice books? And there it was, your very last book. I couldn’t believe that it was there. I discovered there was only one book I missed before the last one, and I couldn’t wait. I decided I’d go ahead and read “Now I’ll tell you Everything”. I cheated and began reading it the night before my flight, and stayed up until 2 am. The part where Alice and Patrick find each other in the airport made me so happy, one because I’ve always wanted them to end up together, and two because I’m sort of in a situation where it’s not the right time for a certain guy and myself to be together, but reading your book made me think in the future this guy and I will find each other if it’s meant to be. I also saw a question where they asked “why didn’t Alice save herself for Patrick?” But I’m so glad she didn’t! I’m glad she didn’t stay with Patrick consistently. That would have been boring and unrealistic. The book made me sad and happy, sad because the girl I feel I grew up with, well, grew up. As I felt her becoming less and less relatable throughout the book, it made me feel weird. But at the same time, I never lost the connection with the character. And happy because she grew up to become the woman I envisioned. Thank you for such a wonderful series…thank you for sparking my love for reading and thank you for letting my awkward 12 year old self feel like she wasn’t weird or alone.

Phyllis replied:

I think a lot of readers will nod their heads about being too shy to ask the questions they’d like to ask.  I’m glad that the Alice books helped out here.  They are simply the questions I wanted to know about when I was growing up.  Your comment about being sad as Alice grew up, becoming less relatable, has something to do, I think, with the fact that as we grow up, there’s a certain sadness in our own changing.   We want to grow up, of course, but we’re leaving much of our security and “innocence” behind, and there’s always a tug when we make that break with childhood.  Thank you so much for your email.  I’m so glad that Alice was “there for you” when you needed her.

Just Finished the Last One and Got Married!

Question:

Thank you so much for writing these books. I love all of them and have been reading them in order for about 11 years now. I just finished the last one, and I was impressed and delighted with the book. 🙂 PS…I just got married and am 23, just like Alice was, so that was cool to read.

Phyllis replied:

Wow!  That IS living the book, isn’t it!   My very best wishes to you and your new husband.

Lived Life with Alice

Question:

I cannot imagine that you will get a chance to read this since you must get a ton of fan mail but I would like to express my gratitude towards you for all you have done for me throughout the majority of my life. I discovered Alice when I was 10 and now as a senior in high school I am able to say that she has changed my life. I followed Alice through hardships and I literally lived them with her as I experienced by embarrassing moments with her by my side. Rather than a character, I consider Alice to be my best friend. I would like to thank you for allowing not only myself, but countless others to grow up and laugh and cry alongside Alice. She was there to comfort me and to applaud my success. The opportunity you embraced to not only teach but inspire others is something that I will forever be indebted to you for. As I conclude this in tears I would like to finish by saying that your legacy will far surpass you and these books will live on forever through the hearts and minds of all your readers and the generations to come. Thank you and I hope you have a Merry Christmas. We will never be able to say goodbye to Alice simply a see you later because with ever read there is always more to learn.

Phyllis replied:

I love hearing from readers who started with Alice when they were young like her. Who feel they grew up with her, and went through all of her embarrassments together.  Thanks so much for taking the time to write to me.

Read the Alice Books in German

Question:

Dear Mrs. Naylor,

I always wanted to write to you, but now I finally found the time to actually tell you, how much I like your Alice books and how much every single character means to me and influenced my view on life, high school time and many other things.

I started to read your books when I was around 10 years old and my aunt gave me the 8th and 11th book of the Alice series. I loved them so much! Then I discovered that our local library has all of them and then I started with the 1st and ended with the 14th and read all of them again, because I thought they were so beautifully written, had so many funny parts, but also sad ones and I could recognize myself in many of the characters.

I am German and after the 14th book, there are no german books anymore, so when I was in 9th grade I ordered „I like him, he likes her“ and I liked it even better in English than in German.

Half a year ago, I moved with my father to Washington D.C. and I was so excited to see Takoma Park and Silver Springs and Bethesda and all those suburbs of D.C., that are also mentioned in the Alice books, on the metro plan. The school system in Germany is very different than the American, so because I am attending an American high school now, I notice things, that are described in the Alice books, but that I could never really understand before.

In elemantary school, I had a very good relationship with my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Körner, who always kind of reminded me of Mrs. Plotkin and I thought, you would probably be like my teacher.

What I love about your books, is how deep you develop the charachters, because they all seem so real to me. I guess on of my most favourite characters is Lester, because he is so funny and relaxed about things. Then of course, Mrs. Plotkin, because I was – and still am – a little scared of growing up, getting old, so it really touched me, how she talked with Alice about life, when she was in the hospital and Alice made this volunteering job during summer. I liked that she told Alice, never forget to be happy about at least one thing a day and that she said that she is happy with her age and wouldnt want to be 25 or so again.

I think it is very good, that you kind of discuss many topics, that teenagers think of; Lori and Leslie, who like each other, Elizabeth, who has trouble with eating, Pamela, whos parents seperate,…

I am currently reading „Its not like I planned it this way“, because I am a sophomore myself, and I am always going to read the books, when I am in the same grade as Alice is in the books. But the last book „Now Il tell you everything“ is kind of about Alice college time and her whole life, isnt it? So when would you recommend to read this one?

I am sitting at Georgetown Waterfront park right now, and it is getting very cold, so I should come to an end, but what I always wanted to know, if the Alice books are kind of autobiographic. I read, that you included things that happened to you, but do you also identify yourself with the character of Alice?

So finally, Thank you very much for writing the Alice books, they mean a lot to me and I think you are an adorable writer and I would love to talk to you someday.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I would be pleased to get an answer and a happy new year;

Phyllis replied:
I’m happy to tell you that if you have only read 14 Alice books, you still have 14 more to go, because there are 28 books in all, not counting the 4 large paperback editions, each containing 3 books of Alice during her high school years.  Yes, “Now I’ll Tell You Everything,” is the final book in the Alice series, taking her from age 18 to 60, so it covers a lot of things, mostly the highlights of her life during this time span.  If I were you, I would wait to read that one until I read all the others, even the three prequels–“Starting with Alice,” “Alice in Blunderland,” and “Lovingly Alice,” because you are going to want to see what Lester was like as a teenager!  Yes, a few of the things are autobiographical–certainly the things she thinks about and worries about, and I very much identify with her, though I was lucky enough never to lose my mother when I was young.  But I also see myself in Pamela and Elizabeth.  I think that most of us have moments when we behave as any one of those girls.  Thank you so much for writing to me.  What a wonderful aunt you had to start you off on the Alice series!

Seeing Silver Spring

Question:

You must get so much fan mail everyday, but I wanted to express my gratitude. I’ll make my letter short, even though I have so much to say. The Alice series has absolutely changed my life! I started reading them in the fifth grade, and recently finished the series as a senior in high school. Everything about the series is phenomenal, and it pains me that I will no longer be able to read about Alice’s days! On my way to Washington DC for a college visit recently, I passed Silver Spring, and it brightened my life just to see that highway sign! Thank you for your dedication to writing, and I hope to be able to meet you one day!

Phyllis responded:

If you go to college in this area, you’ll undoubtedly run across other places where Alice and her friends hung out.  Thank you for taking time in this busy season to write to me.  Best wishes for your college plans.

Will Never Be Alone as Long as I Have Alice

Question:

I just wanted to say thank you, for everything. I was an adopted child who eventually lived with my grandparents, and I read about ten of your books growing up, and eventually forgot as I got older. I turned 23 this year, and I’ve been in a relationship for a few years that is very serious. I don’t have much family really, but he has a lot. I’m a bit of a misfit, not because of my lack of family, but because I am extremely standoffish and I try very hard to figure situations out for myself, because I have always had to. Anyways, talk of children as come up, and although I will be finishing my degree and finding a job before that is even a factor, I started thinking about it & remembered how greatly your books helped me feel normal as a kid, in the moments where I felt so lost that it hurt. I was gifted all of your books by my grandfather throughout the year, and every word that I read makes me feel that I am not, was not, & will never be alone as long as I have Alice. I know many people say this very line, you can probably hear it in your head being repeated in a million different voices, but I just want to be another. You changed my life, and I can’t wait to share that with my children. Thank you.

Phyllis replied:

That was about the nicest message I’ve received this Christmas, and my editor thought so too.  Thank you so much for writing to me.  What a wonderful grandfather you had!  If you could read the emails and letters I get, you would know you are positively not alone.  So much of what you told me about the way you felt growing up has been echoed by dozens and dozens of readers.  I have the feeling that you are going to be a very good mother when the time comes.  You will be to your children what your grandfather was to you.

I Was Wrong

Question:

Okay so, I don’t really know how to start this letter (this is my first time writing a Fan Letter) so I guess I should just say Hi.. I wanted to write you to say that I am a big fan of yours. I wouldn’t go as far to say that I’m your number one fan or anything like that (how can someone have a favorite fan anyway?), but I do enjoy your writing a lot. I’ve read some of your books, but one of your book(s) stood out to me in particular. The Alice Series. I picked up Outrageously Alice about one or two summers ago at my local library. Originally, I thought there were only five or six books in the series. Boy was I wrong! Then,over the course of a year, I read the majority of the Alice books in record time (I didn’t really set a record or anything, it just seemed like that to me at the time). I wanted to tell you how much the series meant to me. When I first read the books, I didn’t think any of the things that happened to Alice would ever happen to me.

Again I was wrong.

Because,when I read the Alice books, I hadn’t started Middle School yet. When I started Middle School however, I realized that some of the things that happened to Alice can happen to anyone…specifically me.

On another note, I also noticed that your Alice books really helped me through the changes I went through in Middle School. They kinda made the changes feel more familiar and, oh I don’t know, less creepy and strange. Your books also made me feel comfort when I felt sad or upset. I know its strange, but sometimes it felt like Alice was my imaginary friend or something to that degree.

In conclusion,you writing the Alice series was, in my opinion, the best decision you ever made in your writing career. And from one writer (I want to be an author when I get older) to another, you did a good job.

Phyllis replied:

Thank you.  I’m so glad you found the Alice books both entertaining and helpful.  One thing I’ve learned in my life is that whenever you think you’re the only person who feels a certain way, or had a certain thought, there are dozens…hundreds…thousands who have felt or thought or done or said almost exactly what you have felt or thought or done or said, and know exactly what you are going through.

Why Didn’t Alice Save Herself for Patrick?

Question:

I started reading your Alice books when I was around ten. I’m an avid reader, and I’ve read most of the Alice books (my library and bookstore don’t carry all of them unfortunately). I’m now 14, and I’ve just finished reading Now I’ll Tell You Everything. I cried. Amazing, because I’ve read so many books in my life and only one other has actually brought tears to my eyes.
One thing I wanted to ask you is about something that surprised, and truthfully, disappointed me. Alice has loved Patrick for so long. I know that when she got together with Dave, her and Patrick are broken up, but still. Her whole relationship with Dave seems fake. Unreal and untrue. And I absolutely couldn’t believe that her first time had been with Dave.
Why did you decide to do that? Why could Alice not have saved herself for Patrick?
But thank you. For Alice. For she is as real to me as any of my friends, and I am honored to have known her and have seen her grow up.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Phyllis replied:

I thought about that one for a long time.  The fact is, there is not just one person in the world we can love–who can be our soul mate.  Rather, there is a “type” that we are drawn to particularly, and I would not want readers to get the idea that we wait for that one special Prince Charming.  We meet only a small handful of men or women at a particular time in our lives when we are looking to settle down, and people fall in love when– usually after dating a number of different people, and perhaps even being in a couple of serious relationships–they find someone with whom they feel comfortable being themselves, and–as Lester explains to Alice–makes them feel passion, tenderness, and joy.  Especially joy.

As far as Alice knows, Patrick is at the other end of the world and has perhaps fallen in love with someone else.  Dave is kind, she’s attracted to him physically, they care for each other, and he makes her feel loved.  I think it is very natural that she would feel drawn to him, as one of the many men she could love.  But she begins to feel that–even leaving Patrick out of the equation for the time being–that the things they are interested in are just too different. They don’t have the same motivation…and wisely, she gives him up.  If Patrick had not come back, I think Alice would eventually have found another man she loved.  As much.  Perhaps even more.  But once we choose a mate, we need to be committed to the idea of marriage as much as we are to that particular person, and she and Patrick made it work.

I hope that answers your question, and I very much appreciate your writing to me.