Alice in Blunderland (Alice Books) [Hardcover]

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alice Books

Here are all the embarrassing things that might happen to you in the fourth grade -- and do happen to you, if your name is Alice McKinley:

1. Your next-door neighbor (who happens to be a BOY!) sees you in your underpants.

2. You sneeze beans all over your best friend.

3. Your brother lies to you for fun and you believe him.

4. You get trapped inside a snow cave -- your own snow cave, that is.

5. You're the only person in the whole grade who can't sing.

Alice can't seem to do anything right anymore, especially where her big brother Lester is concerned. When he gets really angry with her, Alice doesn't know how to fix things between them. How is she going to get Lester to talk to her again? And will life ever get any easier? Fourth grade can't end soon enough!

The second of three prequels to the beloved Alice series, Alice in Blunderland lets younger readers get to know the girl everyone wants to be friends with, and proves once again that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor knows the fears, foibles, and fun of being a girl.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Fourth-grader Alice McKinley can't seem to do anything right. Her intentions are as good as gold, but her gullibility gets the best of her every time. Her older brother, Lester, has a great time pulling her leg, and usually his teasing is harmless. But one day he takes it too far and convinces trusting Alice that his new girlfriend is a child-abuse victim who plans to run away to China to escape her violent home life. Alice's kindhearted effort to help out leads to considerable embarrassment for everybody, especially the McKinleys. Add a few other world-class mistakes to the mix, and Alice's fourth-grade year starts to feel like a total failure. Naylor's straightforward, good-humored narrative provides series fans with extra insight into the events that shaped this beloved character into a favorite young adult heroine.
Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-7. Embarrassment has always been a big part of the wildly popular Alice series about a young, motherless girl trying to work out how to grow up female, but her bumbling is the heart of this story: "Blunderbuss" is her middle name. Following Starting with Alice (2002), this is the second of three prequels to the Alice books, which began with The Agony of Alice in 1985. Here, Alice, in fourth grade, can't get the unspoken rules right. Once again, it's all good fun--except for one troubling episode. Alice adores Tarzan movies, and with the boy next door she bumbles things as she tries to act out the romance of Tarzan and Jane as they flee from "ignorant savages." The book flap says that Naylor based this book on her own experience growing up. Still, some things aren't timeless. Haven't we gone beyond racist stereotypes about stupid, comic savages in the jungle? This might be a good title for class discussion: all the laughter close to home, and then the question of what's really funny. What should Alice be embarrassed about? Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689843976
• ISBN-13: 978-0689843976
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I guess I've been writing for about as long as I can remember. Telling stories, anyway, if not writing them down. I had my first short story published when I was sixteen, and wrote stories to help put myself through college, planning to become a clinical psychologist. By the time I graduated with a BA degree, however, I decided that writing was really my first love, so I gave up plans for graduate school and began writing full time.

I'm not happy unless I spend some time writing every day. It's as though pressure builds up inside me, and writing even a little helps to release it. On a hard-writing day, I write about six hours. Tending to other writing business, answering mail, and just thinking about a book takes another four hours. I spend from three months to a year on a children's book, depending on how well I know the characters before I begin and how much research I need to do. A novel for adults, because it's longer, takes a year or more. When my work is going well, I wake early in the mornings, hoping it's time to get up. When the writing is hard and the words are flat, I'm not very pleasant to be around.

Getting an idea for a book is the easy part. Keeping other ideas away while I'm working on one story is what's difficult. My books are based on things that have happened to me, things I have heard or read about, all mixed up with imaginings. The best part about writing is the moment a character comes alive on paper, or when a place that existed only in my head becomes real. There are no bands playing at this moment, no audience applauding--a very solitary time, actually--but it's what I like most. I've now had more than 120 books published, and about 2000 short stories, articles and poems.

I live in Bethesda, Maryland, with my husband, Rex, a speech pathologist, who's the first person to read my manuscripts when they're finished. Our sons, Jeff and Michael, are grown now, but along with their wives and children, we often enjoy vacations together in the mountains or at the ocean. When I'm not writing, I like to hike, swim, play the piano and attend the theater.

I'm lucky to have my family, because they have contributed a great deal to my books. But I'm also lucky to have the troop of noisy, chattering characters who travel with me inside my head. As long as they are poking, prodding, demanding a place in a book, I have things to do and stories to tell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book ever !!!!!!!!, June 20, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Alice in Blunderland (Alice Books) (Hardcover)

This is a really good book . It is the second book in the Alice seireis . If you thought the first one was the best , "starting with alice" , then you have no idea how much you will love this one . I checked it out from the library and it's like my hands were glued to it . I could not put it down I read it for two hours in a row . Non stop . I think the age group should be 10 and up . Please buy this book ! I hope my review helped . If it did push the "yes" button below this review .

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alexis's GREAT Review, September 29, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Alice in Blunderland (Paperback)

Alice in Blunderland is a geat book. Alice is a girl, and she thinks that she is the boss of everyone. I love Alice in Blunderland because she is just like me. Alice has a brother named Lester. Lester lies a lot to his sister. Alice does not like it. One time Lester had told his sister that Lisa Shane had been beaten by her father. Then Lester told his sister that it was not true. Then she beat him with a backpack. Lester pushed her down. She yelled at him! Then they did not talk to each other. Read the book to find out what happens next!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Early Alice Fun, June 19, 2004

By 

Kathryn (Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alice in Blunderland (Alice Books) (Hardcover)

In this second prequel to the Alice series, Alice is entering the fourth grade. She has a man teacher for the first time, and is now friends with the Terrible Triplets. Lester lies to her more and she, of course, believes him, which leads to some funny happenings. She also forms the "Secret Six," gets snowed in her own snow cave, and no matter how she tries to help Lester, they just can't seem to get along. This book does, however, end on a good note. I would highly recommend this prequel, along with "Starting With Alice" to any young girl, whether she's heard of Alice or not.