Alice Blog

When Do the Books Take Place?

Question:

 

I finished reading incredibly Alice 3 hours after i got in from amazon a few
weeks ago and like all Alice books it did not disappoint.  I just have a few
comments.
I really liked how you included the part when the students were protesting about
banned books because I know the Alice books are often censored. I was reading
pages online about the Alice books, mostly mothers complaining about lovingly
Alice and I have to say they must have memory loss if they forgot wondering
those things at that age! I am reading Alice with my sister and debating wether
she  should read lovingly Alice, because we just finished the fourth grade one.
Even at nine, she sometimes asks me questions about sex and I’m not sure how to
answer. Reading this book could help her understand but I should probably wait a
little longer just in case she tells my mom because she won’t discuss it with
her.
Back to the book, i was wondering what it meant when Alice said “well if they
haven’t by now, it’s time they did” loudly to the boys in the other room. How is
that risqué? Maybe I just don’t see the joke but I thought a while over it and
still couldn’t figure it out.

I was hoping for alice’s last summer to be a lot more like in the past, the
whole sit around by marks pool kind of feel (I know he’s dead but that’s how
I’ve always pictured the gang) and for them to do the things they used to do
like walk around and get ice cream and go to the elementary school.  that was
her summer before jr high, but if it’s her last summer home I wanted patrick to
at least be their. Working on a cruise ship would be fun, but it just doesn’t
sound like the Alice books I know. Well it’s already written anyway, and I’m
sure it’s great. I just hope you have a lot of “last times” in silver spring
with the gang put in.

Random question: what time period do these books take place? Its like she has
records then 4 years later an iPod! she grows up 1/3 slower, so Does each book
take place based on when it was written?
Lastly, why did you decide to extend the books beyond alice being 18 like you
origionally planned? Is the ending the same as you pictured so many years ago?

I know I have so many questions but I hope you could answer a few. Thanks for
all you do for your loyal readers! <3

Phyllis replied:

 

You have a lot of questions, so I’ll have to give short answers:

1) If your sister is already asking the types of questions that Lovingly Alice answers, then I’d read and discuss the book with her.  If not, wait until she’s genuinely curious about the answers.

2) Alice is trying to sound sexy by letting “it” imply whatever the boys’ imaginations might offer.

3) The books supposedly take place in whatever year I wrote them.

4) Remember that Alice is growing up, and that means change.  You aren’t doing the same things over the summer that you did four years ago, are you?  I decided to extend the very last Alice book to age 60, because so many readers want to see the gang open the time capsule.  I think you will like this very last book.  It might possibly be my favorite.

 

 

Will Pass Them Down to My Daughter

 

Question:

 

I have been reading the Alice books (starting with Agony of Alice) since I was a awkward 7th grader, I am now 23 and still find the Alice books such a great comfort. One of my oldest Alice books is a copy of Alice-in Between with yellowed pages and the cover falling off and believe it or not I still pick it up from time to time. I just wanted to thank you so much for writing these books I think they have something every girl can relate to, if I ever have a daughter I will pass these books down to her- that’s how much they mean to me. I can’t wait until 2013 when the last book comes out, it will be very bittersweet to see it end. I have no questions for you but just a simple thank you for writing the books that have grown up with me :).

 

Phyllis replied:

 

You’ve made my day.  Thanks so much for your email!

From Singapore

Question:

 

Hi Mrs Phyllis,
I saw your advertisement on your blog that if i have any questions but i dont really have a question more like wanting to talk / fan mail. I come from a Singapore school and i LOVE your alice books they make me feel so content on the inside. If you want to know, i am not really a singaporean more like i come from England and i dont live in singapore just study there so i have to travel everyday. I know i may be saying too much than i should but i just wanted you to know that your alice books are the only thing that makes me happy except my family and food. 🙂 What i read in your alice books is sometimes what i wish my life was like. I am 13 and i have not ever had a boyfriend or stuff like that. So i know you might be busy and all so i shall make this short and sweet and say that I think u are inspiration to me and when i grow up i may be a writer like you or a phyciatrist like alice even though i think my parents expect me to be a doctor even though i know they will understand. Thank you for listening to me. I hope you will make more alice books in the future as i borrow them from my school library but i have to search in other places as i have read all the alice books in my library.
 Thank you for your writing and PLEASE continue to write and i know u may think i am just one girl in the thousands that LOVE your alice books but they are more than that to me so thank you.

 

Phyllis replied:
 
It’s wonderful to hear from Alice readers from many different countries.  I hope you will be able to find all 28 books in the Alice series.  Thank you so much for writing.

“I Like Him, He Likes Her”

Question:

 

I’ve never really succeeded in school. Academically I succeeded but not as much socially. I have plenty of friends. Un-fortunetly, Non of them are 

 

Phyllis replied:

 

I’m so glad you’re enjoying these “Alice bind-ups,” as the publisher calls these fat paperback books, each one containing the three books of each of Alice’s four years of high school.  I don’t know what the fourth one ( Alice’s senior year) will be titled–it’s not out yet.  I guess writing the 28 books of the Alice series was my substitute for raising the daughter  I never had.

 

Have Not Outgrown the Alice Books

Question:

 

I just wanted to let you know that I have been reading your Alice books since I was in the 3rd grade, (when I grew tall enough to see them on the shelf of our school library (: ) And now i am just going to start 6th grade in Augest. Your books have been the only one that I have not outgrown over the years. I hope to keep reading your books over till I graduate from college! 🙂

Thank-you so much for writing these awesome books!

 

Phyllis replied:

 

I get several letters a week from college girls who still enjoy the Alice books.   I think you will like them too for a long time to come.

Leaving Childhood Behind

Question:

I hope your summer is going well. I just wanted to write to you really quickly
to let you know that the Alice series has meant a great deal in my life. I’m
sure you receive letters all the time, but as a fellow writer I know it
personally never gets old for me to hear that my writing has affected someone in
any way shape or form. 

When I was twelve years old, my friend happened to be reading a book called
Alice in Blunderland at a rehersal for a play we were in. We were all very close
castmates and would read each others books/eat each others food/use each others
phones all the time backstage. Attracted by the funny title, I picked it up and
started to read. When she got off stage I told her not only was I borrowing the
book but I demanded to borrow any other books in the series she had as well. 

I am now a 19 year old college student. I have been there with Alice through the
ups and downs. Friends have come and gone from my life–including that friend,
who was once very, very dear to me–and I have hit highs and lows. I’m a
completely different person than I was when I was twelve, but Alice has been a
major constant for me. I remember reading the Grooming of Alice the summer
before eighth grade, tanning at the pool. I remember reading Dangerously Alice
on a vacation my family took to Florida. Every Alice book holds a memory for
me. 

I left my hometown of Madison, WI this summer for an internship in Washington,
DC. I was completely overwhelmed by my new job and having all sorts of difficult
feelings about my future and who I was meant to be. When I saw the latest Alice
book in Barnes and Noble, I of course snatched it up immediately. I cried during
the book as Alice discussed feelings of sadness–she was literally leaving her
childhood behind, as am I at this very moment. 

Alice McKinley is like one of my best friends, as insane as that may sound. When
the series is over in 2013, the year I graduate college, I will be devastated,
but similar to what Alice learns in Incredibly Alice, we all have to grow up and
leave the past behind at some point in our lives. 

I just needed to let you know that the Alice series has meant more to me than
you could ever know. Thank you so, so much for pouring your heart into Alice for
so many years.

 

Phyllis replied:

 

I was so touched by your letter, and am so happy to know that Alice has been a friend to you all these years.  The year you graduate from college, Alice graduates also, (and does so many more things, as it covers the her years from 18 to 60).  I have the feeling you will like the last book too, Always Alice, and will understand her choices.  It’s wonderful to hear from readers like you.

Alice On Board

“Just Like What Happened to Alice”

Please Don’t Be True

Hi, Mrs. Naylor.  im 15 and im going to be a sophmore this coming school year, and i just finished “Please Dont Be True” today and ordered “Alice in Charge” earlier. I allready have “Incredibly Alice” because i couldnt not buy it when i went to Barnes & Nobel the other day and its very tempting not to read it because i want to wait till i read “Alice in Charge” first. But i’ve only read the Alice Collections i haven’t read any of the others because i was just introduced to Alice about a month ago and i just saw those and i was like ohh ill read this. At first i went just looking for a book, and i saw these reallllly big books and so i picked it up and read the back to see what it was about and at first i didnt think it be all that good. But once i really got into the book, i couldnt help but turn page after page. I once read for 4 or 5 hours straight because i just didnt want to stop. Everytime i get bored i read Alice, or in the car even on vacation i read like on the beach and stuff. And my mom comes in and says “are you just gonna stay in here and read all day?” and im like “yep” haha. But what im saying is that (i know you probably get this alot) but i FREAKING L.O.V.E Alice. Like i just feel i can conect with her, not just because shes a teenager and going through highschool and stuff, but because i’ve gone through some of the same things she has. And i feel as tough i can really connect with her and no what another might have delt with that situation or what they would have done. And me and Alice have things in common also. Its just special, and these books are somthing that i would share with every girl i possibly could. I even treid getting my friends involved in it but “their too busy” they say. But i definatly will tell A LOT of people about. So pretty much this is my way of saying thankyou for writing these, you would probably my favorite author and ive never had one before. So thankyou

 

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad you like the Alice collections–the “big” paperbacks, each containing the three books of each of her high school years.  (There is one still coming of her senior year, but we don’t have a title yet). 

So Unfair!!!!

, i just finished Intensely Alice, and it was SO UNFAIR!!!!! I was on the bus when i read the end of chapter 17 The Unthinkable, and i wanted to cry! And when i got home, i read it over and over again, trying to soak it in, but i just couldn’t accept it! I mean, when you read a book series with like 30 books in it and you are on the twenty-fourth, you become really attatched to the characters. And, ironicly enough, I was listening to Tim McGraw’s If I Died Today. My question is, how do authors do that?!?!  I plan on becoming either an author a language arts teacher or a singer, and if i become an author, i would cry even thinking about killing a character. HOW DO YOU DO IT?!?!?!?!

 

Phyllis replied:

I did cry when I wrote about it.  But in writing the Alice books, I’m not writing about some idealized life.  At some point all of us come face to face with death, usually a grandparent, but all too often it’s one of our friends–something we never imagined.  I try to create the most honest books I can, and Alice has to face it too.