Truly Alice

Following my review of It's Not Like I Planned it This Way, I purchased its sequel and decided to sit on it until 2013.

At the start of her junior year, Alice is determined to start making waves. Tired of her reputation as a goody-two-shoes, she sets out to find exactly what she want to be known for. The trouble is, she meets obstacles every step of the way. She starts going out with smooth-talking Tony, but he moves things along too quickly; she tries to resist step-mom Sylvia's intrusions into her life, but that blows up in her face. Her friends, meanwhile, are blossoming in their own ways: Pam has a nice steady boyfriend for a change, and Liz is becoming more outgoing. Alice's opinions and philosophy are challenged constantly by the people she meets, and at the end of the day she doesn't really know what to believe. But her friends know that Alice is loyal and true and great in a crisis, which comes in handy when a sudden accident wakes them all up from a sleepy summer.

As Alice grows, so does her story's subject matter expand. In this outing, the disconnect between the Title of Angst and the actual content is less noticeable and even resonates at times as being ... well, truthful. Not that I'm about to censor this book from Alice's younger readers, but the subjects explored in detail will likely go over their heads. Sex, religion, love, and death are discussed in quite realistic and moving ways, a certain and at times saddening sign that Alice is no longer dealing with the so-called simplicity of childhood. Pam in particular has another serious story arc, and I would say the ending was a cop-out had Naylor not chosen to tackle other big issues. One thing I very much appreciated was how she kept it ambiguous, giving the reader different aspects of an issue and leaving her to form her own opinion.

There's still plenty of room for laughs, though. Alice's junior year is filled with a lot of fun and funny mistakes. She goes to dances, throws a party, becomes a bridesmaid, and - hey, she even starts texting! Lester continues to be the MVP of Alice's world by offering the funniest lines and, every so often, a good bit of advice. Liz gets a great moment in the sun - two, if you include accidentally starting a fire with her bra (long story). Having said that, these moments are kind of a mixed bag: they offer relief, sure, but some of them do little to move the story along or add character development. Alice's journey continues nicely: there's definite signs of independence and more importantly, a maturity that can handle it. She returns to an old boyfriend, though, and I honestly couldn't say if that is a sign of regression or a normal way to proceed with one's life. Maybe it's a bit of both.

It's obvious, isn't it, how much I care about Alice. She is the overly helpful, intelligent little sister we don't have (most of us, anyway). And despite the usual flaws I find in this book series (i.e., does an American teen ever use the word "quarrel" in casual conversation?), I'm not embarrassed to say that its charms have won me over. Rating: 4.5 house renovations out of 5.