Getting along with Alice
I picked this book up a few months back, sometime around my birthday. I was pretty impressed with its prequel, but wasn't sure about continuing on with the series when I wrote the review. But on one of my (rare) trips to Barnes & Noble, I spotted it among the spines and covers of a dozen Twilight copy-cats and thought, "Man, this is by far the only thing I want to spend money on."* So I bought it, happy that I would soon find out what happened during Alice's sophomore year.
*Not entirely true, as there were also the two sequels to Shiver in glorious hardback. But It's Not Like I ... cost less, and there's the deciding factor.
Persistently enthusiastic fifteen-year-old Alice has a lot to deal with this year. First her dad is finally getting married to her old English teacher, Sylvia, and she needs to be on hand to make sure the wedding isn't ruined by Sylvia's pining ex-boyfriend. Then Alice has a digital heart-to-heart with Penny, the girl who kinda-sorta stole her own ex from her last year. And then she makes everyone - including herself - nervous when she finally gets to take her driving test. And Alice isn't the only one going through momentous life changes: her friends are battling a formally estranged mother, a scary-jealous boyfriend, cancer, and irresponsible boys. Can Alice be a good driver, a good step-daughter, a good girlfriend to nice guy Sam, and a good sport when her dad signs her up for a course on sex at the local church? Will she discover her role in the new family circle? Will her brother, funny dude Lester, ever decide to settle down and get married? And will putting a condom on a banana in sex ed class really teach her anything beneficial?
As with the prequel, I had great fun reading about Alice's adventures (this volume strings together Including Alice, Alice on Her Way, and Alice in the Know.) I do believe that Alice's character has somehow become more realistic: she whines a little, especially about inviting as many of her friends to her father's wedding as possible, and gets frustrated when she feels Sylvia and Dad leave her out of the loop. She learns a few lessons about the outside world: she works outside of the family business for the first time in her life and discovers how cultural differences have real consequences. She learns that a guy who seems perfect on paper may not be perfect for her. In a more poignant way, she learns the meaning of family and family responsibility (the killer ending ties into this). All of these conflicts - and Alice's subsequent takeaways from them - really help to paint a near-perfect picture of a maturing girl who still experiences moments of naivete. Also there is a noticeable shift in this part of the series from black-and-white to gray-ish morality. Penny is no longer the bad guy in Alice's love life, just an indirect participant. Alice errs on the wrong side of political correctness when trying to be respectful to Lester's black girlfriend. And even though she was forced into going, she can admit that she learned plenty from the sex ed class - about respect and communication as much as the biological aspects.
The complaints - or if you want to be charitable, the points of discussion - that I had in my other review remain the same. The dialogue and prose occasionally sounds old fashioned: instead of sulking, Alice gets "in a snit"; instead of being hilarious or wicked, everything is a "hoot" or a "riot." This more than anything contributes to the quaint tone of the book (well, that and the use of emailing instead of social networking - but that's hardly Naylor's fault, as the stories were initially published just before Facebook got big). And having not read the (many) prequels, the lesser-defined characters tend to fade into the background for me. Even the adventures of some of Alice's friends don't hold my interest for long. Pamela's story is the most engrossing of the subplots as it shows how a confident girl can get in too far over her head - but doesn't portray her as a victim.
Overall, I found this to be a rewarding and funny read. I look forward to Alice's junior year. Rating: 4.5 genial misunderstandings out of 5.
*Not entirely true, as there were also the two sequels to Shiver in glorious hardback. But It's Not Like I ... cost less, and there's the deciding factor.
As with the prequel, I had great fun reading about Alice's adventures (this volume strings together Including Alice, Alice on Her Way, and Alice in the Know.) I do believe that Alice's character has somehow become more realistic: she whines a little, especially about inviting as many of her friends to her father's wedding as possible, and gets frustrated when she feels Sylvia and Dad leave her out of the loop. She learns a few lessons about the outside world: she works outside of the family business for the first time in her life and discovers how cultural differences have real consequences. She learns that a guy who seems perfect on paper may not be perfect for her. In a more poignant way, she learns the meaning of family and family responsibility (the killer ending ties into this). All of these conflicts - and Alice's subsequent takeaways from them - really help to paint a near-perfect picture of a maturing girl who still experiences moments of naivete. Also there is a noticeable shift in this part of the series from black-and-white to gray-ish morality. Penny is no longer the bad guy in Alice's love life, just an indirect participant. Alice errs on the wrong side of political correctness when trying to be respectful to Lester's black girlfriend. And even though she was forced into going, she can admit that she learned plenty from the sex ed class - about respect and communication as much as the biological aspects.
The complaints - or if you want to be charitable, the points of discussion - that I had in my other review remain the same. The dialogue and prose occasionally sounds old fashioned: instead of sulking, Alice gets "in a snit"; instead of being hilarious or wicked, everything is a "hoot" or a "riot." This more than anything contributes to the quaint tone of the book (well, that and the use of emailing instead of social networking - but that's hardly Naylor's fault, as the stories were initially published just before Facebook got big). And having not read the (many) prequels, the lesser-defined characters tend to fade into the background for me. Even the adventures of some of Alice's friends don't hold my interest for long. Pamela's story is the most engrossing of the subplots as it shows how a confident girl can get in too far over her head - but doesn't portray her as a victim.
Overall, I found this to be a rewarding and funny read. I look forward to Alice's junior year. Rating: 4.5 genial misunderstandings out of 5.
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