Outrageously Alice [Paperback]

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alice

Now that she is setting into eighth grade, the class she used to envy, Alice discovers it isn't as exciting as she thought. She's tired of being the same old Alice, and longs to be a bit outrageous.

Instead, she finds herself in situations that are more embarrassing then they are thrilling. She likes dressing up as a showgirl for Halloween, but hasn't counted on what happens in the broom closet at school. And she's delighted to be a bridesmaid, but feels awkward at the bridal shower. Even Patrick begins to seem childish to her.

Elizabeth and Pamela, however, her two best friends, feel that life is changing too much for them. Elizabeth finds that a new a boy at school is attracted to her, while Pamela faces a serious problem at home. Lester, too, Alice's brother, can't quite believe he's losing his old girlfriend, Crystal. When Alice dials Miss Summers, however, the woman her father loves, there is always the hope that this time she will get the mother she has always wanted.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8. Alice is, as always, likable, humorous, and true to life. Now 13 and in the eighth grade, she worries that she is too ordinary. Alice admits she has done embarrassing things, but never anything outrageous, and she decides to do something about it. She dresses up as a showgirl for Halloween, with unhappy results. She starts wearing makeup and goes to school with her hair spiked up and green, even though her father forbade it. Her brother's former girlfriend, Crystal, has asked Alice to be a bridesmaid, and this brings an array of new questions for Alice such as, what kind of bra do you wear with a backless bridesmaid dress? Does Crystal still think about Lester? What if you find out on your wedding night that you don't like sex? When she goes to the lingerie shower for Crystal, she realizes she knows nothing about sex and relationships. Her curiosity and concerns about growing up continue to be what make her so realistic. Even if Alice doesn't realize it, she is maturing. For instance, she knows how to be a good friend to Pamela, whose parents are getting divorced, and she knows what to do when her father falls off of a ladder. Naylor naturally and seamlessly introduces pertinent story lines and characters from the previous books. Another charmer in the long list of stories about this engaging character.?Elisabeth Palmer Abarbanel, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-8. The ninth affectionate comedy about Alice continues to serve as a kind of road map for a girl coming of age today, not in any direct self-help way but as a candid view of how hard it is to follow the unwritten rules. Alice is 13 now, in eighth grade, and much of her confusion is about sex and gender roles. The last thing Alice wants to look like is a virginal "cupcake," but she is pretty shocked by the women's talk at a "lingerie" bridal shower. It is easy for her to be outrageous by going to school with her hair in green spikes, but what does she do when a boy grabs her in the dark during a Halloween game and French-kisses her? Was she "violated, the next thing to being raped," as her friend Elizabeth insists? Is it Alice's own fault for dressing as a sexy showgirl? What if the kisser turns out to be Alice's boyfriend? As always, her dad and her older brother are warm and funny, even if they can't always give her the answers. And as usual, there is an underlying seriousness to the humorous play. In the end, Alice is both innocent and tough, very much a bridesmaid in a conventional wedding, very firm when she pushes herself away from the drunken fumbling of the groom's handsome brother. Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin; Reprint edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141697962X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416979623
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,748,372 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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PG-13!, September 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Outrageously Alice (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book, but am rather amazed that the recommended age level is 9-13. I haven't read any of the earlier ones, so I don't know if they all have so many sexual references, but this one has a pretty steady diet of talk about breasts, lingerie, French kissing, missionary position, etc. Is this really aimed at 9 year olds? The thoughtful and humorous treatment of confusing issues is good, but I think the book should be in Young Adult sections or Middle School Libraries.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, April 24, 2005

By 

A lover of juicy books - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outrageously Alice (Alice Books) (Paperback)

Dear Janybird,

If you haven't noticed, 11 year olds talk about that stuff all the time. I'm 14 and when i was 11 1 did! I'm not saying it's not inappropriate, because it is. I'm just saying that don't freak out that you think your daughter is learning and hearings some things too quickly, because she likely already knows about it. She was probably just pointing it out to you to show that the book you bought for her has some things in it you probably wouldn't approve of. Of course teachers won't approve of it, it's talking about visualising people naked! I personally don't think it's all that bad but it's NOT for 9 OR 10 year olds. It should be for 11-15 year olds. When I was 11 I read a book in the series of Alice, and asked my mom, what's a condom? She wondered why that was in the book and i said mom, it is a teen book! The Alice books are in the TEEN section in most book stores, so you SHOULD know there will be some things in there not appropriate for 11 year olds. You can't let a publishing company decide what's appropraite for your daughter by putting an age recommendation on a book. Perhaps you should read a bit of the book to get a the feel of it. But for those people who don't care if it's appropriate or not, it's a great read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Outrageously Alice (Hardcover)

This book was a breath of fresh air in a boring and smothering world of perfection! I recommend this book to any teenager or adult alike looking for some new material. I, however, do not recommend it to anyone below the age of 12, because of some of it's content. Outrageously Alice was humorous, lifelike, and incredibly good! It is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor at her best! Alice finds herself in situation after situation, not always handling them the right way, thus proving that nobody's perfect. I enjoyed this book to it's fullest, and give it two thumbs up!