Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Intensely Alice
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
ISBN 978-1-4169-7551-9
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009
269 pages

Genre: Contemporary Life

Reader's Annotation:
Alice spends the summer before her senior year hanging out with old friends and seeking out new experiences.

Plot Summary
Alice is worried she'll spend the summer before her senior year missing her boyfriend Patrick, who's already left for classes at University of Chicago, but she easily fills her time hanging out with "the gang" who have been friends since middle school.  They goof off and hang out at the Stedmeister's pool, but they also spend a week volunteering at a soup kitchen and another week apartment-sitting for her brother Lester. Alice also has plenty of solo adventures: she serves as a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding in Chicago (even getting to go to the slightly risque bachelorette party!) and combines that trip with an overnight visit to Patrick's dorm.

Life seems pretty charmed and full of possibilities, but everything changes when senseless tragedy strikes at the end of the summer. Alice is first comforted at how it unites her group of friends, but then upset and frustrated at the different way in which her friends express their grief.

Critical Evaluation
Intensely Alice is the 24th book Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written about Alice.  I've read most of them, starting with The Agony of Alice (first published in 1986!). At their best, the Alice books combine frank, honest treatment about many hot-button issues (molestation, teen pregnancy, anorexia) with a tone that's funny and authentic.  Sometimes they can seem a little didactic, but  Intensely Alice largely stays away from this tendency.  In this book, Naylor is really skilled at interweaving small experiences from the everyday into a larger picture.  For much of the book, Alice anticipates the night she'll spend with Patrick in his dorm room. When the time comes, the evening is treated with honesty and respect, and thanks to the low hygiene standards of three guys sharing a college dorm room, some trademark Alice pratfalls.

Naylor weaves in a lot of discussion about religion in this book; she has a group of teens discuss the topic at the homeless shelter, and Alice has many conversations about religion with a co-worker who's about to enter seminary to become a priest. Alice stays away from jumping on board with any specific religion or denomination, or even a definite belief in God, but she has a strong moral compass, telling her father, "All I know is I want to be a part of everything that's good and true and real."

The tragedy that ends the book is genuinely unexpected and moving, especially for long-time readers of the series.  Unlike some of the other Alice books, this one could stand on its own to a reader unfamiliar with the other books.

About the author:
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written over 130 books for children and young adults.  She's written a large variety of styles, from picture books to young adult novels to mysteries.  She won the Newbury Medal in 1992 for Shiloh, which has two sequels; all three Shiloh books were made into movies.  She's written 24 books about Alice McKinley since 1986; Alice progressively gets older in each book, starting as a soon-to-be 6th grader and now a soon-to-be high school senior.  Naylor plans 4 more books in the series: three for Alice's senior year of high school, and then one final book which will take Alice from age 18 to age 60.

Genre
Coming of Age/Comedy/Romance/Drama

Curriculum Ties
This books is not particularly suited for use in a curriculum.

Booktalking Ideas
1. Speak in character as Alice, catching the audience up on what her friends have been up to, and what she's looking forward to this summer.
2. Talk about the importance of friends and the many fun, silly, and serious things Alice's group of friends does throughout the book
3. Focus on a few of the really humorous incidents in the book, such as the bachelorette party


Reading Level/Interest Age
9th grade and up

Challenge Issues
Teenage sexuality; teen pregnancy; religious discussion

The Alice books are frequently included in ALA's list of most frequently challenged books for their frank discussions of teen sexuality and hot-button issues like homosexuality and molestation.

If challenged, one should be clearly aware of the selection policy at their library and be ready to explain that to the challenger.  One could point out the positive reviews the series has received over the years from various professional reviewing journals.

Selection Criteria:
I've been reading the Alice books since I was in middle school, and I'm always curious to pick up the latest one.