Customer Reviews

Miss Smithers

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

 

 

The book caught my attention because of the bright green cover, but I bought it because an author on the cover was quoted saying, "I laughed until my diet soda came out my nose". I didn't quite snort soda but this book made me laugh out loud. I read it in one sitting. Also it was really cool to have my hometown mentioned in the book (Prince Rupert). The way Juby wrote about teen issuse, parents, small-town life, etc was dead on, I had a ball reading it.

Alice McLeod is offered four hundred dollars to represent the local gun club in the Miss Smithers competition. Four hundred dollars to spend on clothes is a dream come true, especially when she imagines being able to stretch it all the local versions of Good Will or the Salvation Army. Added bonuses are she will get an inside scoop for the paper she produces and horrify her parents who strongly disapprove of the blatant anti feminism of a beauty contest and the principals inherent in a shooting club.

There are enough events in the contest to assure that almost anyone can score well in one or two of them. Yet, it is not the contest that will be the most educational for Alice. The reactions and politics that enter her life as she comes under the spotlight are a revelation. She will get fashion advice from bikers, find herself in a fight with supposedly respectable young women, and shock her parents by converting to a Christian lifestyle and chastity. While there can be only one queen, Alice finds there can be several winners.

*** Miss Smithers is unusual. Its satirical look at life is told from a first person point of view. While some scenes are difficult to imagine, that does not detract from their realism. Alice is in her own version of wonderland, strange but possibly true. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

I found this book and was drawn to the cover because it was just so bright and beautiful. I didn't read the first one in this book but i wasn't confused with out it. Alice, is a teen who is just trying to become normal, this is really hard for her because her mom is a feminist/hippie and her dad is a soft core romance novalist. She starts out by entering this Miss Smithers Contest. (She is actually the normalist person there) This book was a very fun/funny book to read. (I can't help being a little bit biased over this book cause i myself am Canadian)

This book was by far just as good as its prequel "Alice, I think". It dealt with pretty much the same concepts and issues. Alice is just beginning to actually fall into the realm of "normal" in this instalment and she is very pleased by her progress as is her therapist "Death Lord Bob". She is a candidate to become "Miss Smithers" and like in her other book, she provides a complete "what not to do" manual for all of us who are planning on being in a Beauty Pagent and just a hilarious read for those of us that, after reading about Alice's misadventures, choose to stay home...I think if you enjoyed Susan Jubys first novel "Alice I think" you will find yourself laughing even louder for this one...

This book is very original and quite funny. Alice is by far the best character in all the teen-girl books i have read.

I have now read this book four times this year and i still love it just as much.

I highly reccommend this book to anyone who loves a fun spirited read

I loved this new book about Alice McLead, her family and her small town. I think Alice has spunk and a kind heart... just my kind of girl. Her take on the other contestants in the Miss Smithers pageant is a scream and I laughed out loud many times. Now I want to sign up for Karate... but I won't be going to a steak house.... Alice Rocks!

The book was in excellent condition, but it was a different edition than I expected - which was fine, but I wish the picture of the book had been the correct one.

Long time readers might remember my previous demonstration of fondness for Alice, I Think by Susan Juby. By itself, the book was fantastically funny with some great plot points and characters. So imagine my happiness back in 2005 when I realized a sequel (set a bit after the first novel's events) had been published and was available from my place of employ.

Like many good stories, Miss Smithers starts with an offer that Alice can't refuse--especially if she wants to prove to everyone that she really is a special girl. Being previously homeschooled and a bit of a loner, Alice is surprised when the local Rod and Gun Club asks her to be their representative at the Miss Smithers Beauty Pageant. That is until she hears about the four hundred dollar allottment for clothing. At that point, much to her mother's horror, Alice is prepared to participate in anything.

Unlike higher profile pageants, Miss Smithers has enough events that are varied and vague enough that every participant has a chance of being good at something. Surely that must also include a moderately well-adjusted teen who used to think she was a hobbit, right?

After one botched newsletter distribution and the purchase of questionable attire for a beauty pageant, Alice begins to question her initial (over)confidence at winning Miss Smithers. Of course, it's only then that Alice really starts to learn and grow from her brief experience as a beauty queen.

Like Alice, I Think before it, Miss Smithers has received some negative reviews from people who argue they can't connect with Alice. For my part, I can't understand why as I love Alice who seems to be the embodiment of the simultaneously apathetic and overeager teen found inside everyone.

Other negatives included a review that railed against the discussion of underage sex and drinking found in this book. There are two sides to that issue. As a teen I read a lot of books with characters who had sex and drank. Most of my friends and family will agree these readings had no detriment on my moral code. There are also a lot of books out there that are far more explicit about both topics.

In relation to this novel: yes Alice does get drunk, and yes she does consider sex quite a bit. But she also decides to take a chastity vow and spends a good amount of time contemplating what Jesus really would do. All in the same novel. Like most sixteen-year-old girls, Alice changes her mind a lot. As such, Juby creates a realistic albeit sarcastic protagonist with a well-rounded variety of experiences in this story.

Like the first novel in this trilogy, Miss Smithers does follow a diary format. The "standards" of that genre are adhered to a bit more loosely here with dated entries reading more like the usual prose. Not to worry though, this novel features a different kind of gimmick instead of the diary entries. Interspersed between chapters, Alice includes a handy newsletter (handtyped) detailing pageant events as well as a spreadsheet tallying each entrant's points and progress toward the win. These newsletters are also a great way to look at Alice's increasing maturity throughout the story as she begins to take more pride in the competition and becomes more familiar with each of the contestants.

Equal parts humor and sarcasm make this book a great read for anyone who would never usually pay attention to beauty pageants in books or otherwise.

Alice does not typically go for beauty pageants and all that jazz - but when she discovers that entrants will get $400 for clothes, she's game. (She has her heart set on leather pants.) Sponsored by the Smithers Rod and Gun Club and surrounded by other eccentric participants, Alice quickly learns that she is not the only participant to have ulterior motives.

As with the previous novel (Alice, I Think), this story is told in extremely funny diary entries. She is constantly mortified by her New Age-y mom and slacker dad, and often finds her super-smart little brother to be wiser than her grown-up guidance counselor. Her time as Miss Smithers introduces her to karate, tests her vegetarianism, gives her material for her self-published zine, and teaches her the value of a dollar. Okay, maybe not that, but she does ultimately appreciate her true talents, and that's what makes her shine.

You have to hand it to Alice MacLeod -- a more clueless, obnoxious, graceless 16-year-old misfit would be hard to find. Susan Juby strikes again, this time with Alice as the Rod and Gun Club's contestant for the very non-prestigious Miss Smithers pageant. With this unifying theme, Juby totally hits her stride. Although the previous book, ~Alice, I Think~, wasn't as developed at this one, it's good to read them in order so you know the background for the running jokes.

Alice is convinced to enter the town talent pageant because of the $400 clothing allowance, writes what was supposed to be an anonymous zine about the progress of the pageant, then finds herself getting beaten up and ostracized yet again because everybody knows all the snarky things she's said about them. Honestly, if you can enjoy the humor of seeing an unlikable but funny narrator much more clearly than she sees herself, and perhaps even being able to relate it to one's own occasional cluelessness with the vague beginnings of self-awareness, Alice's antics and muddles will keep you reading and laughing far into the night.