At a. In 34 years in the trucking business, that was John the Baptist Parish Hall will be open after masses on Nov. E-Edition Subscribe Login. Toggle navigation Menu. The author whose works have been banned more than any other writer this past decade — more, even, than witchy J. Rowling — lives in a Methodist retirement community in Gaithersburg, Md.
On this morning, she settles into the kitchen table — her formal dining room has been converted into a writing space — and considers why some people oppose her books. Instead, her year-old had checked out Lovingly Alice, in which the protagonist figures out how babies are made. Why is 11 the magic number? You know? She is wildly prolific, having written books, and is best known for the Shiloh trilogy — the first in the series won a Newbery in — about a boy and his beagle. But since , six months of every year have been dedicated to the trials and humiliations of Alice, a motherless girl raised by an unflappable dad and brother.
In Alice Alone, Simply Alice, Patiently Alice and Including Alice, she goes to high school, gets a stepmom, accidentally invites a group of prostitutes to Thanksgiving and suffers through the outrageous indignities of daily life. Which meant, of course, that I rushed right to the library and checked out all the Alice books I could find. Once I started reading them, I never stopped. Alice carried me clear through to college. I read them over and over and over again and I loved them each time.
Recently, I decided to revisit Alice. It's always interesting reading a childhood favorite through adult eyes. You wonder what will change. I have to say, I loved Alice just as much as I did when I was in junior high. She is so easy to relate too. All of her "agonies" are things that happen to all of us. I love the boy in the blue underpants. As a teacher, it was fun to read about Mrs. Plotkin, and how she touched Alice's life.
It made me want to be better. A short summary: Alice is a 6th grader trying to figure things out. She's in a new town, in a new school and she didn't get the teacher she wanted. She lives with her dad and older brother who don't always know how to connect with her. I think all girls should read these books. We all know what it's like to buy your first bra, get your period, and embarrass yourself in front of the class. It's sweetly funny watching Alice deal with all of these things.
The Alice books made such an impact of me growing up, and they still hold up well. I can never believe that these are some of the most banned books in America when they handle growing up in such an innocent and thoughtful way.
Arguably, the lesson of this one is that beauty is on the inside, as observed through Alice's relationship with Mrs. The way their relationship unfolds is very sweet and ties everything together quite nicely. Observations on a re-read: I was surprised at all the references to Christianity -- Methodists vs.
Catholics, Easter mass, St. Agnes, etc. I don't think I picked up on that when I first read them, and it's another reason I'm so surprised these are banned. Alice is such an easy character to emphasize with. Her yearning for a replacement mother is so palpable and hard to read.
Alice's first incredibly-detailed Amtrack ride, and definitely not her last. I love how undramatic these books are. All of Alice's 'agonies' are things we all experience growing up. It's so refreshing to find a heroine whose just a regular girl doing regular things.
No special powers or skills or supernatural love interests. This is definitely a book I would want my kids to read. I really liked these books as a teenager so it was really fun to revisit it! Might have to read the others, too! I decided that this had to be the year to pick it up. I needed to see for myself why the story would be so very controversial.
Okay, you know that fact tugged at my mama heart-strings. But, the poignant moments which are brilliantly illustrated by Phyllis made me smile and cringe and nod my head in agreement. The book is funny and well written and I can hardly wait for my girls to read it. Now, I only read the first book in the series and I hope to read the rest as soon as time allows. For me, none of those things merit a ban on the book.
Both stories share very realistic narrators and ones that I admire. I really enjoyed this book. Alice reminded me of myself at age Embarrassing things always seemed to happen to me and I was always wanted to disappear. Alice lives with her father and older brother who have no clue how to relate to a girl. Her father calls her "Al" and her brother doesn't know that jeans come in girls sizes as well as boys.
Her relationship with her family makes for some amusing scenes, such as the time a younger Alice asks her brother what a period is after hearing some older girls talking about theirs.
He tell her it looks like a comma without the tail and goes at the end of a sentence. That had me cracking up. Alice learns a lot about being yourself over the course of her sixth grade year. She also learns that the outer package may be beautiful, but the inside can be very ugly. Not everything that is good comes in a pretty package. I think that any middle grade age girl would enjoy this one. Even though it was written in , it is still relevant to today.
They will be able to relate to the social awkwardness and pains of being a tween. The Agony of Alice is the first in a series that follows Alice McKinley from middle school through high school. There are 3 "prequels", as well, that have Alice in elementary school. A visit to her website showed that Ms.
Naylor is still writing Alice books and has 2 or 3 more planned. I like the idea of a series that a young girl can read as she moves from sixth grade through high school along with Alice. I know that the later books, when Alice is in high school, deal with more mature subjects. But, from what I can see by the synopses, they are subjects that a lot of high school kids deal with every day. I also found that the "Alice" series has been on the list for top 10 most challenged books in the s and into the s.
Just that alone makes me want to read them all! Alice McKinley is sure she is the most embarrassing person on earth. She is also sure it's because she doesn't have a mother to show her what to do. Alice thinks if she can only get the beautiful Miss Cole as her teacher this year, she can adopt Miss Cole as her surrogate mother and get back on the right track.
Alas, she is Mrs. Plotkin's room, and Alice is mortified. Everything bad always happens to her! Will Alice ever grow up? Or will she keep growing backwards? I thought Alice was so spot-on as an adolescent girl. EVERY girl her age is convinced she is a mess. Her inability to control her frustration and her perception that she is always getting the short end of the stick so reminds me of me at that age. Naylor mixes plenty of funny situations too so the reader is not constantly feeling sorry for the trials and tribulations of Alice.
I look forward to reading more of this series. Zoe D. The Agony of Alice is a fun book and Alice is a character that a lot of people can connect to. It's one of those books that when you start reading you can't stop. Alice's mom died when she was younger and Alice is the women of the house; she live with her dad and her older brother Lester.
She is going to start sixth grade soon with her friends, Pamela and Elizabeth. But she might have a problem without a female role model she can look up to she was hoping it might be her teach she just hopes she won't get Mrs.
Plotkin either of the other two teachers would be better than her but she especially wants Mrs. Summers she would be perfect but she wonders what would ever happened to her if she got Mrs. This book literally took me 40 minutes to read but it brought back a lot of memories. I first had to read this series in my 5th grade class. It was part of our reading group.
I recently got a galley of the last book in this 24 book series and have decided to take it upon myself to re-read the old books that I haven't read in a good 15 years, and read some of the ones I didn't bother reading, culminating in the final book in the series.
Plotkin tells her. As a whole, the Alice series serves as a road map for growing up, a candid guide to the difficult situations and uncomfortable questions that arise during the transition to young adulthood.
In this offbeat and male-dominated household, Alice yearns for a mother—somebody to sew her Halloween costumes and explain menstruation. This void is filled at first by Dad and Lester, Mrs. But the maternal voice of the series belongs not to any character but to Naylor herself. Although she was fifty when she wrote the first Alice book, Naylor has remarkably clear and charitable insight into the world of teen-age girls.
Some of the best moments in the series come straight from her own childhood. Naylor did the same thing when she was a girl. I aged faster than she did, but, like the best characters from our childhood, Alice remained a beacon, a perpetual reference.
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