Alice Blog

When to say No

Question:

I am nearly 33 but still love the Alice books. Even though I’m an
“adult” (though most days I don’t really feel all that grown up!) I
just wanted to tell you that recently I was re-reading Incredibly
Alice and part of it really helped me get a clear view of a current
situation in my life. Although it’s such a small part of the story –
Alice turning down the opportunity to try out for poet – I found it to
be such a powerful positive message about saying ‘no’. I guess I’m a
people pleaser/overachiever and I tend to always say ‘yes’ even when I
have huge reservations about doing so. Recently I was diagnosed with a
serious illness, and although I’m now being treated and expect a full
recovery in time, I was still feeling guilty because I turned down an
amazing opportunity at work for health reasons, and took on a “lesser”
role. A woman at work, who has been a real mentor to me over the
years, said she was devastated that I turned down the opportunity, and
I was really feeling awful – like I’d let her down. The thing is, I
know I’m not well enough right now to take on so much extra
responsibility, even though I probably could have forced myself to
take it on and continued to struggle – my life lately has consisted of
work, and sleeping pretty much all the rest of the time in order to
have the energy to continue to function in my job. The lesser
position I’ve accepted will allow me to rest and recuperate and then,
fingers crossed, I’ll be ready to take on bigger challenges – even if
I have missed out on what I’ve been told was the opportunity of a
lifetime. Anyway, while reading over that part in Incredibly Alice,
something just clicked in my brain, and I realised it’s OK and I don’t
need to feel bad about my decision – sometimes an opportunity just
comes at the wrong time and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.
Just as I’m sure Alice could have written a fantastic poem, I probably
could have done great things in that role at work – but it would have
meant sacrificing so many other parts of my life to take it on. So –
thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for creating a character who
is so real and lovable and as fallible as the rest of us, and through
being so real can be a genuine role model for people like me. I love
the books, and I especially love your wisdom!

Phyllis replied:

Thank you so much for your email. You helped me as well, because a year ago, after a spinal operation, I had to say no to a talk I really wanted to give–just the right subject, the right time of year, a beautiful drive, a good audience….. But when the time came, I knew I wasn’t recovered enough to do my best–not even sure I could stand at a podium that long–and had to back out. I have felt bad about it ever since, even though I know I did the right thing. It was so good to hear from someone who went through something similar.

Posted on: June 17, 2012

Following the Alice Books since 4th grade

Question:

I’ve been reading the Alice Series since I was 10 in the 4th grade and am now 16 and in 10th grade. As I have matured so has Alice and the problems she faces, and I know a lot of the things she worries about I have too. I have loved being able to grow up with these amazing characters you created and I see a little bit of myself in each of them. I consider Alice one of my biggest role models and just wanted to thank you for writing such a wonderful series of books, that are so true to what it’s like growing up. I look forward to every May when I know a know a new adventure of Alice’s will be waiting to be read. I have read every book in the series at least 3 times and have enjoyed them more each time I read them. I preorded Alice on Board in November and it’s expected to ship sometime this week- I’m so excited to read it! Though it saddens to think there are only two new books left to come out I’m so excited to see how you end Alice’s story and I find it fitting that I’ll be finishing this series, which has been such an important part of my childhood, just as I start preparing to leave for college and becoming more independent.
Thank you so much Mrs. Naylor, without these books I truly would have been a different person

Phyllis replied:

It’s wonderful to know that there are so many readers who have followed Alice all these years. I’m still revising the very last book that will appear, “Always Alice.” It will be a much longer book than the others, and will come out in the fall of next year.

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Name of book

Question:

I am so very close to being done reading I like him, He likes her. I feel as if I have so many questions. my friend let me borrow the book and told me to read it..now that I am almost done, I am so in love. This is the question that I think is the most important. Since I started reading I like him, he likes her, I think I will just keep continuing reading from there. Is that ok? Or should I start reading the books from the very beginning? I think I really want to just read about her high school life. Another question of mine is, what is the name of the book of her senior year? Sophomore is ” Its not like I planned it this way”, Junior is “Please don’t be true”..correct? I just need the name of the senior one. Am I missing any of her books? Is there more than four books of her high school life? Is there any books after her high school life? How did you come up with a girl like Alice?

Phyllis replied:

It’s fine just to keep reading the high school books. For those who know Alice and her brother from their earliest years, the episodes will be deeper and more meaningful, but you can always go back and read the whole series from the very first book, which is “Starting with Alice,” when Alice was in third grade and Lester was a teenager. You can get those books in paperback. You are correct about the titles of the high school 3-book bindups. The three books of her senior year have not been published yet, since the last book that would be in that volume, “Alice On Board,” has just come out in hardcover. The publisher will probably wait a bit to publish the bind-up, as they don’t want to affect sales of the hardcover. Once they’ve decided on a pub date, they’ll tell me the name of the bind-up and I’ll print it here. There will be one final book in the Alice series, which takes her from age 18 to 60. It’s title is “Always Alice” and I’m still revising it. The publisher will be bringing that out in the fall of 2013, not the spring.

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Reading the Series again

Question:

Like so many other people I wanted to say that I really really love your books!I am 16 now and I started to read your books when I was 12 and one week ago I started to read the Alice Series again

Phyllis replied:

I love hearing that old fans are rereading the Alice series. That seems to be a favorite summer pastime. Thanks so much for writing to me.

and I can still laugh when I read them and this series is one of my favourite! You are one of my favourite authors!

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Childhood fantasies come true

I’m a great fan of Alice and have been a loyal reader for over 10 years. I am nearing the end of my college career, and I received an internship to work for the Humane Society of the United States in D.C. this summer. When I found, out my excitement for the job was quickly supplanted by the knowledge that I will be so close to Silver Spring and Tacoma Park, where so much of my childhood fantasies took place while reading your books. My plan, silly as it may be, is to purchase the new Alice book, travel to Maryland, and read it somewhere in Silver Spring. I hope it is everything I have imagined it to be! Thank you for filling my childhood-and adulthood-with such joy and imagination.

Phyllis replied:

A writer mixes up the real with the imagined, you know, and everything has a different name. But I think you will still find Dales Music Store on Georgia Avenue, which became the Melody Inn in my books; if you drive through Takoma Park, almost any of those big Victorian houses could be the one Lester roomed in for so long, and if you take East-West highway to Bethesda, you will find the Unitarian/Universalist church on Cedar Lane where Ben and Sylvia were married. The Humane Society is dear to me because we had many connections after the publication of my book Shiloh. So you are in familiar territory. Best of luck with your internship!

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Books that make me cry

Question:

It’s easy for a book to make me laugh, but for one to have me so involved as to actually make me cry… That’s something I’ll Always come back to.

Phyllis replied:

I think many readers feel the same way. Thanks for writing.

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Pictures of characters in the Alice books

Question:

I was wondering if you have any pics of these characters that i am putting in this email , Alice, Sylvia , Lester, Patrick Long, gwen wheeler, elizabeth price, pamela jones, jim sorringer, nancy, amy sheldon, lori, karen, jill, mark, brian, justin, donald sheavers, takoma park, leslie, faith, molly, penny, uncle harold, uncle howard, grandpa mckinley, aunt sally, uncle milt, carol, kirk, martin, marie, marilyn, david, rosalind, billly.

Phyllis replied:

I’m afraid you’ll have to use your imagination. I try to mention characteristics from time to time, realizing that there are always new readers to the Alice books, besides those who have followed them for years. Occasionally I will mention Alice’s strawberry blond hair, or the fact that Gwen and Yolanda are African-American or that Ben is sort of roly-poly, but I don’t do this often because it would get pretty boring. And you guys wouldn’t buy the books if they had pictures, now would you?

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Even Christian Girls have Questions

Question:

I just wanted to let you know what a blessing your Alice books have always been to me throughout my life.
I was so excited when I read my first “Alice” book. The girl inside was my age, and like me, imperfect in so many ways.
She had a funny older brother named Lester, an amusing Aunt, and a great Dad. (And a terrific boyfriend!) I’m 18-years-old (tomorrow is my 19th birthday) and I’m a Christian. Even Christian girls have questions about growing up, relationships, bodily changes, and other girly stuff. I’ve learned so much about myself from reading your books, and as the only girl in a family of 5 brothers, I’ve found a wonderful sister in Alice.( I’ve both cried and laughed with Alice.)
You’ve also influenced me to begin writing fiction myself. I would like to be a novelist too, someday.
Thank-you for all the hard work you’ve put into the Alice series. I hope that one day, I’ll have a daughter who can grow up knowing my favorite
character too.

Phyllis replied:

Of course Christian girls have questions too. We all have bodies and we all have the same problems. I’m so glad you enjoy the Alice books. You could write stories of your own if you have five brothers! Best of luck, and thank you for writing to me.

Posted on: June 16, 2012

Irresponsible to glamorize teen sex

Question:

I do appreciate your response and that you responded so quickly. However, I must repectfully disagree with the notion that just because something is true to life makes it also appropriate for young readers. I feel that is is irresponsible to glamorize teen sex in a society where this has caused so many problems for young people. Books such as yours can be very influential as kids so often believe and mimic what they read.

Would you write a story geared towards middle schoolers about Charles Manson just because it was true to life if you thought it could be influential in making then follow the same path? Would you write about suicide in this manner? To me writing about teen sex is similar in that you potentially influence young girls to rob themselves of their innocence, do whatever feels right and be able to sluff off the consequences as easily as closing the book.

I am sure I cannot convince you of the point, and I do not know if you are a parent or not, but I can tell you that as a concerned father in today’s society it is very difficult to monitor what your children see and books such as yours do not help in trying to bring up girls to regard purity as something sacred and sexual promiscuity as immoral. I hope you will consider this in your future books.

Phyllis replied:

I appreciate your writing to me again, but I think we’re comparing apples and oranges here, because there is nothing remotely healthy about invading a home and murdering people, whereas I don’t look at sexuality in that way. Our approaches toward teenage literature are radically different, in that you look at teen sexuality as pure vs impure and innocence vs guilty, while I took at teen sexual urges as a natural part of growing up, and I believe that the best way to approach the subject with teenagers is to accept how they feel and write about the various ways of dealing with these sexual feelings. Having taken part as an adult in a church-sponsored sex education course taught in the church, I feel strongly that teenagers should be encouraged to accept their sexual feelings and deal with them appropriately–that masturbation, for example, provides a healthy release, that mutual masturbation between a teenage couple is also safer than intercourse, and that sexual intercourse between a teen couple does not always end in pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease, but it does have risks, and a young couple should be aware of these risks and feel a responsibility toward each other if they choose this option. Some teenagers choose abstinence, and this is perfectly acceptable, and an individual decision. What I try to avoid is the good/bad stereotype–that sexual relations between teenagers is always going to end up badly, that those who engage in it are sinful people, etc. Our children know from their own experience that there are good students with a good plan for their lives who have had sex without bad consequences. And this is what I mean about being truthful. For me, both as a writer and as a parent, I feel obligated to stress that sexual urges are natural and healthy and that there are wise ways of dealing with them and not-so-wise. If you read my Alice books, you will find that some of the characters make healthy choices, some do not; and just as in life, some face difficult consequences, others do not. I think the best way to insure that young people listen to us is to tell the truth.

Posted on: June 15, 2012

Cool Series

Question:

I know I have already written to you before, but I feel that I need to ask you a question. I have not read all of the books, but from the ones I have read, I find it remarkable how much I do not have in common with her, yet I can still feel her pain and happiness, her all around feelings. I think that this is what makes the series so attractive to me. My question is, when you first started to write the series, did you know how appealing it would be to readers of every age? You probably get asked this question all the time, but I’m interested. I am also interested in reading the rest of the available series. I really love your series. I sometimes catch myself getting that exited feeling at Alice’s happy times, and that sad feeling at her sad or miserable times. Thank you for writing a really cool series.

Phyllis replied:

I never really know until a book is published and I hear from readers just how attractive or unattractive it will be for them. But, like you, I find myself feeling along with Alice, happy on her good days, really bad on the sad ones. That’s the way it’s always been with my writing, however. If I don’t cry in the sad scenes and laugh out loud at the funny ones, then I figure my readers won’t feel it either.

Posted on: June 15, 2012