Customer Reviews

Including Alice

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alice McKinely, who I've grown to love from book one just like a gal pal, is going through various changes. Some, she thinks, are for the best. Others, she believes, are for the worst. She also sees that these changes she's anticipated, the good ones - like Dad and Sylvia's wedding - also have their downside.

But how can Lester's moving out be anything positive? He wants his own apartment and has no reason not to leave home - Alice's begging for him to stay evidently won't suffice here - he's a grown man and it's time for him to stop mooching off Mr. McKinely. Alice can't imagine home without Lester in it. And as I've read the series, growing fonder and fonder with each book, I've gotten to know and love Lester's endearing quirks. His non-morning personality. His ways of teasing his baby sister. His "Ye gads!!!"

Alice can imagine the beautiful Sylvia Summers as her mama, despite the fact that she might not call her such. After all, she has been motherless since the age of 5. But Sylvia's arrival in the McKinely household is proving harder than it once seemed. Alice is no longer the only woman in the house - now Mr. McKinely pays more attention to his new bride than his own daughter. Having Sylvia in the house makes Alice feel the urge to be super-careful about petty things. It also makes her often feel oh-so awkward. Could Sylvia's moving in be a mistake?

On a different note, will things between Patrick and Alice heat up again, being he's through with Penny? They were acting awfully cozy at the wedding reception. Or will they remain mere friends? Either way, it's been clarified that Alice is no longer hurting over Patrick's dumping her. Or is she? Could it be why she's acting so cruelly to Penny, as revenge for the rather bitter breakup? She's the only lunch table member who didn't get a wedding invite, that's for sure.

Naylor's umpteenth venture into Alice's realistic world of friends, family, and hardships will have you drawn in till the end, just like all the other books in the series, though it has quite a bit less luster. Still, putting that aside, it is rather enjoyable. Perhaps if I didn't have the previous series efforts to compare it to, it wouldn't seem as bland.

Am I getting too old for Alice? Absolutely.

I read some of the Alice books from when she was younger and I really enjoyed them. I checked this one out from the library and I am glad I didn't pay for it because I am pretty sure I wouldn't like to have something like this in my collection.

The Positives: Alice is a real girl; she cops a 'tude; she cries at the drop of a hat; her best friends mean the world to her ... It was sweet the way she bonded (finally) with her stepmother, Sylvia.

The Negatives: OMG was this is trashy! I have read Harlequins (as much as I hate to admit it) and this still made me blush! Alice and her friends are sex-obsessed. I remember being very curious in high school so I understand its realistic but c'mon -should young, impressionable girls really be reading this? I was totally shocked and no body can call me a prude. ~ And the book is lacking the usual humor that I had become accoustmed to in Naylor's novels. Not too many laughs to be had. The "comedy" was pretty tame.

Overall, this book is interesting. But would I recommend it for girls under the age of 15? Heck no!

I've been a dedicated fan of the Alice series for over four years now, and I'm finally older than Alice - but I know I'll always love reading about her. Including Alice is a great addition to the series, and probably the most-eagerly-awaited of them all, because guess what? Alice's dad is getting married!

The "wedding chapters" were so much fun to read, especially while listening to the free CD of classical wedding music that's included with the book. Obviously, there are a lot of changes for 15-year-old Alice, including getting used to having a stepmom, Lester living in an apartment of his own, and new developments in her relationships with friends.

I really enjoyed this book, because it included many familiar characters, realistic and humorous situations, and was very easy to relate to. Alice is definitely growing up, and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the best at making this series work!

This Book is about a girl named Alice who has worked for years to get her dad together with her teacher Sylvia. In the mean time her best friend broke her and her boyfriend Patrick up. The wedding day comes up and they are fighting to get everything put together. She is confused on how to be the Maid of Honor. She was walking down the aisle and she drops her purse. She started to panic so Patrick picked it up for her. Then days after Alice finally give them her gift, but the thing is Sylvia got a new bed and the sheet Alice made does fit. Well that is a brief Summary of the book

I like the part in the book where Alice and her friends decide to cook a dinner for her older brother Lester. Then as they were going to knock on the door they heard laughing. Lester was having a party so they just left.

Another part I liked was the Wedding Day were Alice drop her purse going down the aisle and Sylvia almost tripped on it until Patrick picked it up.

I didn't like the part where Alice yelled at her new step mom because she bought a new bed and did not tell her. She just made a beautiful new bed sheets for the old bed.

My other dislike about the book is where the sister couldn't be in the Wedding because she was sick. I think that they should have not made her sick in the book because it is important moment for her sister.

I would recommend this book to girls that love to read love stories.

I'm a HUGE Alice fan, and when this book came out- I was really excited! But when I read it... I was only a little dissapointed. Nothing REALLY REALLY exciting happened, besides Alice's father getting married. But I'm always going to love the Alice series no matter how bad they are (but this one wasn't bad.) But I do warn you, if you haven't read any of these books before, I suggest you read a different one from the series, to get a taste of what her really good work is, because as much as this book is good, it's not one of the best.

I've been reading the Alice series since 4th grade. Now, going into my third year of college, I'm as big a fan as I ever was. I've grown up with these books. Alice is such a great character. She - along her friends, family, and experiences - is so believable, so real, that I feel like she really exists somewhere (perhaps inside Naylor, I suspect).

Including Alice continues the story of Alice McKinley. Now she is preparing for the wedding of her father to Sylvia Summers. The book follows her through the wedding, and the adjustments she has to make afterwards - like living in a female-dominated household after so many years of living with her dad and Lester. The other storylines in the book piece it together and make for added entertainment and laughs. But I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it at that.

In my eyes, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is one of the best writers of young adult fiction, and I will continue to read the Alice series until their end. At that point I will just pass them on to the next generation of young girls in my family, and then the next... and the next...

You get the picture.

Now just read the books already. :)

Fifteen-year-old Alice McKinley couldn't be more excited. The long-awaited wedding between her widowed father and her former English teacher is finally taking place. Finally, Alice will have a stepmother, someone with whom she can share her life and take advice from.

But as wonderful as Sylvia may be, Alice finds it difficult to adjust to a new person in her house. How awkward is it, padding down to breakfast first thing in the morning, wearing ratty pajamas and half-awake? How odd, thinking of her or Sylvia needing to use the bathroom around one another. How do real families do it, Alice wonders.

To make matters worse, Alice's older brother Lester has just moved out, joining two other guys in a nearby apartment. Alice and her two best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, are eager to visit, imagining themselves part of a slightly older crowd. But it seems that Les is too busy to include her.

As always, Naylor's Alice is a likeable, memorable character, guaranteed to win readers' hearts.

I have just finished reading the book "Including Alice" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. It is about a young girl named "Alice" who goes through a lot of changes in her life. Her father gets remarried after her mother dies and her brother moves out of the house. She also goes through all of the typical teenage experiences such as, getting braces and breaking up with her boyfriend.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was hard to put down because it was so interesting. Elliana posted a review on amazon.com that said that "once you start reading this book you can't stop!"
Another reason why I liked this book so much was because I could really relate to it. Alice is in high school and so am I. I highly recommend this book to any teenager who is looking for a good book to read that they can enjoy.

This book is awesome!I have not read any
of the other books in this series,but it
was still enjoyable.I would of given it
four and a half stars.

Alyce is a normal teenage-girl. She has boy trouble and a dad who is getting ready to marry Sylvia Summers. The wedding was going to be at a church, and all the gueasts were invited to the reception afterwards. But, as soon as the reception is over, her new step-mom and her dad don't even say goodbye to her,and being a teenage girl with emotions, she feels so left out. Even though she still soesn't get used to Sylvia as her new mom, she has other problems to deal with. First, this girl named Penny(who Alyce doesn't like) writes her an email on the computer. After chatting with her a while, they decide to pretend to become friends. Next, Alyce has to get braces which adds on to the problems that she already has. But, things start to clear up as her friends and her decide to make dinner for her brother Lester, who lives in an apartment a couple of miles down the road. But,as soon as they get there, they look in the window and are too afraid to go inside because Lester was having a party with all his friends. Then, a strange old man appears and invites them to have dinner with them, well, atleast the dinner they had made for Lester. He told them all about how he worked for the CIA which they soon found out was a lie. Sice Alyce is on the newspaper committee for her school, she is invited to a costume dance where you have to make a costume out of newspaper.So, Alyce went in her newspaper bikini glory and had a great time. Soon Christmas is there and it's delayed because poor Sylvia is sick. They all chip in to make her feel better and soon, she is well againD dismay all the troubles that Alyce had, she found a way out, for the time being.