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Alice On The Outside (2000)

Alice on the Outside (2000)

Book Info

Genre
Series
Rating
3.93 of 5 Votes: 1
Your rating
ISBN
0689805942 (ISBN13: 9780689805943)
Language
English
Publisher
simon pulse

About book Alice On The Outside (2000)

I picked this up on a whim from the teen fiction display at the library, for two reasons: one, it's by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, whose Boy/Girl War books kept my children happily entertained in elementary school. Reliable author. Two, it's about an 8th grade girl who is dealing with 8th grade life. Should be perfect for my 8th grade daughter, right?No. No, it's not perfect. Not even in the ballpark. This is essentially a 175-page sex ed manual masquerading as a novel. The first 30 pages feature Alice asking questions she's always wanted to know about sex, and getting answers from her 20-something cousin. Boring as all get out for a plot, but very informational for a birds-and-bees talk, if that's what you're looking for.It's not that the questions or the answers are wrong (although some are iffy), but that they come out of the blue in a novel marketed to middle schoolers, with no indication on the cover or description that it contains sexually explicit material. Totally inappropriate for the age group. If my daughter asked me those questions, I'd answer them, because I'm her mom and that's my job and my right. But I'm not fond of the sneak attack from some random author whose opinions have no place in the discussion. To add insult to injury, the entire book is preachy. Even when I agreed with what was being preached (which I often did--it is big on waiting until you find someone you love and/or are married, and doesn't advocate irresponsible behavior), I still wanted to shake whichever character was doing the preaching. SO. ANNOYING. And of course, there are a few things I heartily disagreed with, which made it even more aggravating to sit through the sermonizing on those topics. Gah. At least make it sound like real dialogue, and not a question/answer section in a brochure you picked up at the school maturation program.A little research tells me that there is an entire series of Alice books--28, to be precise--that somehow I missed in the last 30 years. Probably because the first one was published when I was a junior in high school, and wouldn't have been interested in a book about a 6th grade girl, and then they simply haven't been on my radar until now, when I have daughters of my own who are always looking for good reads. This one is #11, so I guess I jumped in somewhere in the middle of the series. Apparently there has been some controversy surrounding certain books in the series, which isn't surprising if there are more like this one.

In this book Alice and her classmates have to take part in a diversity exercise in which dark-haired people are given priviledges over light-haired people. Also, Alice makes a new friend that she finds out is a lesbian. Now, I love Alice, but I think her reaction to this news at the ripe old age of 13 is awfully mature. I think Naylor gives Alice too much credit sometimes in order to portray what the "right" action would be rather than the "realistic" action. For instance, no girl I ever knew at 13 would go to a dance alone when all her friends had dates! And no 13-year-old-boy would call up a guy he knew liked his girlfriend and invite him to take her to the dance in his place. Heck, few adult men would do that. It makes for a good story though I guess.

Do You like book Alice On The Outside (2000)?

Personally, I wouldn't say that this book was a great read but I like the concept behind this book as well as the series. It answers questions that girls are too scared to ask. I really wish I had these books when I was a couple years younger so I had answers to some of these questions and sometimes even still there are times I read something I didn't know before. I also really liked the idea of that racial activity they did in the school to cause awareness because I definitely didn't have anything like that a couple years ago when I was that age and I think it could have done us all some good if it was a requirement at school.
—Brooke

A great Alice story, definitely comparable to Alice in Lace (my favorite) in terms of greatness. To get a real world view of prejudice the entire school is divided into As, Bs, and Cs and are granted different levels of privileges. Certain groups are required to use certain staircases, water fountains, and are allowed to board the school buses first. The students have strong emotional reactions to the experiment and have a great in class discussion. I was so glad to read about another meaty assignment like the ones Alice and her friends were assigned in Alice in Lace (they had to plan a wedding, buy a car, make decisions about an unplanned pregnancy etc). Also in this volume, Alice asks some serious questions about sex. Her cousin Carol visits for a week and the two share a very detailed pillow talk session, which I appreciated for its honesty and the mature way in which Alice both asked her questions and received her answers. A side story that comes up in this book is a growing friendship with a girl named Lori. After a sleepover at Lori's house Alice learns that Lori is a lesbian. Although Alice doesn't share this secret with her best friends Pamela and Elizabeth a brief discussion does arise after an incident involving Lori and another girl in the school bathroom and all of the girls' different points of view are revealed. I wonder if this topic will be explored more in depth in later Alice stories, but I liked seeing how Alice handled herself and stuck up for her friend when a group of girls ganged up on her and tried to harassed her. One of my favorite titles in the Alice series, but be warned that sex is a BIG topic in this book as compared to the way it is mentioned here and there in other books, it is a main focus in this book. Recommended for teen girls grades 9 and up.
—Samantha

Alice is in junior high, and she has a lot of questions. In this particular book in the series, Alice learns about sex, makes friends with a classmate who is gay, and participates in a school-wide activity to help kids understand racism. I picked this one up because it was part of a "LGBT kid lit" display. That's about all it has going for it. Published in 1990, this book is very dated. Add that to the fact that the spine is printed with the words "teen fiction" when no teen I know would be caught dead reading a 20+ year old book about an 8th grader, and this book fails miserably. Not only that, but all the "big topics" that come up in this book are handled in such a preachy, after-school-special style that the lessons they're trying to get across sound canned and forced. If this series were in my collection, I'd seriously consider weeding it unless it happens to still circulate for some reason. As it is, this "teen fiction" book is about the size of a Babysitters Club book and is shelved in the JFic at my local library.
—Jenni Frencham

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