July YA Pick: The Alice Books

This summer brought us Almost Alice, the latest installment in th Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I really love this series. Jazz and the Lone Star Girl do, too. I started buying these books for Jazz when she was eleven or twelve and have continued to get them for her as they have come out. The Lone Star Girl discovered them at around ten and quickly read all the ones that were out at that time in a matter of weeks. Now, when one comes out, I buy it, the Lone Star Girl and I read it, and I pass it on to Jazz. Alice is a growing girl in this series who lost her mother at 5 and lives with her dad and her older brother, and eventually with her dad and a stepmother, after her brother grows up. The books have so far followed her from 6th grade through 11th grade, with three prequels that cover 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Alice isn't a very academic girl, but she's responsible about school. She's not driven, but she sets goals for herself. She's a loyal friend, but she understands the importance of being herself. She loves her family. She isn't a prude and she enjoys the her gradual sexual awakening as a teen , but she has morals and standards. The books take on serious and often controversial issues in the lives of teens, but Naylor writes without the creepy voyeurism with which a lot of teen books treat such topics. It's a great series and I like for my daughter read it. I'd be pleased with a daughter like Alice.