The Agony of Alice - Softcover

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440400511 ISBN 13: 9780440400516

Publisher: Yearling Books, 1992

Synopsis

Life, Alice McKinley feels, is just one big embarrassment. Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl?

What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her.

Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model -- one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.

About this title

Review:

"A wonderfully funny and touching story." - "Booklist", starred review

"Both hilarious and poignant...The lively style [captures] the essence of an endearing heroine." - "School Library Journal", starred review

"Breezy dialouge and a solid story line...readable, funny, and appealing." - "Boston Globe"

About the Author:

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written more than 135 books, including the Newbery Award-winning Shiloh and its sequels, the Alice series, Roxie and the Hooligans, and Roxie and the Hooligans at Buzzard's Roost. She lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland. To hear from Phyllis and find out more about Alice, visit AliceMcKinley.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yearling Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0440400511
• ISBN 13: 9780440400516
• Binding: Paperback