Customer Reviews

The Grooming of Alice (Alice Books)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

People who only rate "Classics" at 5 stars are missing a point. You should take a book for what it's supposed to be and decide how well it measured up to its own goal, otherwise all children's books would be two stars or less, when for children's books they are wonderful.

With that in mind, I give THE GROOMING OF ALICE four stars. It aimed to be informative, simple, cute, light and sweet, with a few morals slipped in too. It measured up to all those things quite nicely, but it lacked the creative, polished spark of Harry Potter or the beautiful writing of "Classics" such as THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

The sitcom-type story is played out well and deftly in a simple, sweet prose in Alice's first person--so far, so good. But the problem (and the reason I took off a star) is that the intended reader age is not clear. SOME people think that references to sex, explicit descriptions of body parts at a YMCA class Alice and her friends attend, anorexia and kissing 14-year-old boyfriends on eyelids at neighborhood pools make this book unsuitable for the under-13 crowd. And this must be hard for Miss Naylor, to write truthfully about what goes on with teenagers without being vulgar. However, the simple writing and continuation of a younger girls' series makes this book more appealing to girls age 10 and 11. Most people think that girls that age are too young to be hearing about the above issues so candidly explained. So, read the story and decide for yourself. You'll find it passes time most enjoyably.

I am a big fan of the Alice series and have read each book a number of times each. Before this book the books seemed kinda unrealistic. Like some of the stuff they did I never would do. But in this one it talks about the disese anorexia. I think it is good to educate kids about that cause I know someone that has that and it has TOTALLY ruined their life. So I really recomend this book to everybody.

The Grooming Of Alice was my favorite book in the Alice series yet! I have read every Alice book there is and I LOVED this one! I don't like any of Naylors book series besides the Alice ones. My favorite part of the book is when Alice's dad calls home and gives the big news. I better not tell what the news is but it is really good news! I also liked when they gathered at Mark Stedmeisters pool. Pamela went through lots of problems in this book but in the end she seems to have a good grasp on them. This book is full of suprises and any Alice fan will thoroughly enjoy this book!

I have read ALL the Alice books from the begining. I alwasys enjoy reading about what Alice will get herself into next. I really enjoyed third book and think it was one of the best ! I hope that the next one can match it!

This is the second Alice book I've read (after Alice on the Outside) and NOW I understand the popularity of this series. I thought "Alice on the Outside" was a little too mature in subject matter, but "The Grooming of Alice" seemed exactly right.

Plus I really enjoyed this story a lot more. Many parts made me laugh out loud (and you really get some weird stares when you do that) and one part made me want to cry. When I get that involved with a story, I know it's good. Plus Alice's problems (and her friends' problems) seemed very realistic.

I enjoyed this book a whole lot and plan now to read the next Alice book. And the next...

The story was mostly about three girls names Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth. The girls have known each other about three years. They have just come out of middle school and will be starting high school and decides they don't want to go into high school the same way they came out of middle school. They find so much wrong with themselves
( not so much Alice) that thye go on this diet or this excercis program together where they cut out sweets, pizza, and etc. and start jogging every morning. For Elizabeth this gets out of control and looses six pounds too much weight. While this is going on Alice and Pamela have other problems. Like, for instance Alice's summer job with her other friend named Gwen at the local hospital doing volunteer work. While at work Alice finds out that one of her sixth grade teachers is there and soon passes on. Now Pamela's mother ran off with her boyfriend to Colorado and she is also fighting with her dad. So this book is fiiled with drama. This ends when her dad decides to remarry and they are ready to go to the ninth grade.
I really enjoyed this book because it deals with some of the basic problems some of us teenagers are faced with day to day. I also enjoyes this book because of the ending and the way they dealed with their problems.

This great story and makes the reader feel confident. It also makes the reader blush redder, as I have said in my other reviews of the Alice books. Some may feel it is inapropriate, but I disagree without hesitation. It's not gross, it's realistic. A lot of girls are kissing their boyfriends on eyelids--not all of them, but a lot--and the descriptions of certain body parts at the YMCA are--again--realistic, that is what is going to happen if you go to those kinds of classes and are in a pretty serious relationship. If anything, this book and all the others in the series are PREPARING girls for what is going to take place as they mature. That's my opinon.

5 Stars!!!

BlEsSeD bE!!!