The Grooming of Alice (Alice Books) [Mass Market Paperback]

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alice Books | Publication Date: October 1, 2001

The Most Exciting Summer of Their Lives

That's what Pamela says about the summer before ninth grade, and she, Alice, and Elizabeth are determined to make the most of it. All three girls are getting into shape for the new school year by jogging three miles a day and cutting down on junk food, and Alice is enjoying her volunteer job at the local hospital.

But things keep happening that Alice hadn't counted on. Her satisfaction with her job is marred by an unexpected sorrow. Her attempt to be a loyal friend to Pamela gets her in trouble with her father and brother, big time. And both she and Pamela are afraid that Elizabeth may be taking her efforts to lose weight too seriously. Could the most exciting summer of their lives be a little too exciting?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The summer between eighth and ninth grade is looming for Alice and her friends. "It's going to be one of the most exciting summers of our lives.... All the stupid things we've ever done will be behind us, and all the wonderful stuff will be waiting to happen." First things first. The girls decide it's time to get in shape. Elizabeth tells Alice her waist is a little thick and her legs are too straight. With friends like these...

They embark on a summer of discovery, with jobs, a sex-education seminar, and flirtation with an eating disorder. As Alice tests the waters of adolescence, her relationships with her father, brother, and friends are challenged. When her friend Pamela runs away from home--to Alice's house--Alice must decide where her loyalties and ethics lie. And when her father goes off to Europe, will the temptation of entertaining her boyfriend in the privacy of her home override her father's trust?

Practical, lively Alice has appeared in many of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's other popular novels: Alice in Rapture, Sort Of, Alice on the Outside, and more. Her down-to-earth charm and quintessential adolescent ways will win her friends on and off the pages of the Alice series. From start to finish, readers will identify with Alice's hilarious, poignant, energetic exploits and be moved by Alice's growing maturity.

Serious issues--body image, death, sex--are balanced delightfully with more lighthearted teens-in-summer issues--makeup, grounding, first tampon use. By September, the girls have definitely had an exciting summer, but not necessarily in the way they had anticipated! (Ages 10 to 14) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-Alice and her friends are determined to make the summer before high school the best one of their lives. Their main goal is to make their bodies perfect. However, as the summer goes on, the girls find out they have a lot of growing to do-and most of it is internal, not external. Pamela learns how to live with her father now that her mother has left the family. Elizabeth obsesses over her weight, and Alice tries to help her friends, as well as deal with the death of her former teacher, Mrs. Plotkin, and with her sexual feelings toward her boyfriend, Patrick. Naylor has created an engaging story with strong, three-dimensional characters. The issues the girls face are common among adolescents, and as they learn from their experiences, so will readers. The author includes candid information on topics such as sex, physical development in adolescence, and eating disorders in a way that makes it completely accessible to readers. Alice is a likable protagonist; fans of the series will enjoy this latest installment and newcomers will want to go back and read about her previous adventures.
Dina Sherman, Brooklyn Children's Museum, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689846185
• ISBN-13: 978-0689846182
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Abuse

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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW WOW WOW, April 11, 2001

By 

Sam (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grooming of Alice (Hardcover)

After reading the entire series, I got very stuborn with myself reading this one. Currently the last one in the series, I couldn't let go. I didn't want the series to finish so fast that I tried taking my time reading it. Silly me, I finished it in a day.

I am a teenage boy and i LOVED it. I think a girl would enjoy it even more. The age listed is not appropriate, however, as 9 year olds don't need to know some of the stuff that is said.

Many times, Alice can gross you out or make you cry. This one is truely the best in the series so far... Alice Alone should be great, too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very realistic and as good as always, August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grooming of Alice (Hardcover)

Going through the period of time Alice and her friends are in The Grooming of Alice myself--the summer between 8th and 9th grade--I was startled by how well the book, in main theme at least, mirrored what for me is reality. As my friends and I have become increasingly self- and weight-concious, I have wrestled with a desire to be thin(ner) and a fear of anorexia or the like. The Grooming of Alice not only addressed this, it offered a sensible but not official solution as well as girls'

general fears about the normalcy of their bodies. In the same breath, it was funny as always and incorporated so many components of life, almost everyone should be able to find something to identify with. A few show-don't-tell lessons were a little too obvious, but, hey, this isn't meant to be Shakespeare. It's a good, easy, entertaining read about growing up a girl.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best Alice book ever!, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grooming of Alice (Hardcover)

I have read every Alice book and this has to be one of the most important and well written ones. Changes are everywhere for Alice and her family and friends- some bad, some good, and one incredible surprise! Once again it is filled with humor and touching moments. I couldn't put it down until I reached the end. I can't wait for the next installment. Things are really getting exciting in this series and I don't want to miss a beat!