Alice rising
Book #2 of a mini-trilogy and next-to-last before Alice: The Undergrad Years.*
(*Disclaimer: I don't know if this is a real thing. I hope so.)
Alice is in so many ways incredibly not ready to leave high school and move away. But in so many ways, life is already giving her a little push. Even with her extra-curricular activities adding up (and depriving the poor girl of sleep), she decides to make an un-Alice move by auditioning for the spring play - and scores her coveted role to boot. But everything is happening too fast: her boyfriend Patrick is going to study abroad, her snobbish classmate Jill is planning a hasty wedding (and pregnancy), and her brother Lester is having roommate and relationship troubles. Meanwhile, Alice is waiting to hear what colleges have accepted her, despite her fears of living somewhere far away from all she's ever known, and experimenting with having fun with boys other than Patrick. But despite every little freak-out that plagues her, at the end of the day Alice knows herself better than anyone else.
There's a definite "middle child syndrome" going on with this book. It's not a bad thing, but it is noticeable. It has an interesting motif of children disobeying parents: Jill becomes pregnant largely to spite her future mother-in-law, who thinks she's trashy (she kind of is); and Les's new girlfriend has parents who want to marry her off to a man of her own nationality. This motif serves to underline the normalcy (and kindness) of her own family, and to contrast Alice's own reluctance to secure her independence. She's not really hooked on the idea until she realizes that being on her own means spending time with Patrick any way she wants. It's an odd implication, linking one's independence to a man, and I'd like to see the final book(s?) expand on that.
The end may be near, but Naylor does a good job making this leg of the journey as pleasant as possible (so no more neo-Nazis). And she really does capture the spirit of the final semester of high school - gearing up for graduation and prom, celebrating senior prank day and senior skip day (three whole days devoted to the seniors, guys), and having a good time with your friends. Les's roommate subplot is frankly a waste of time: he complains about how she never comes out of her room and throws away food after its expiration date. Uh, what's the problem? Isn't Pamela off doing something awesome somewhere? Because I'd much rather read about that.
P.S. I still have an uneasy feeling about Patrick. He seems like a great guy, but there's nothing particularly challenging or intriguing about him. But at least he seems devoted to Alice.
Rating: 4 graduation ceremony invitations out of 5.
(*Disclaimer: I don't know if this is a real thing. I hope so.)
There's a definite "middle child syndrome" going on with this book. It's not a bad thing, but it is noticeable. It has an interesting motif of children disobeying parents: Jill becomes pregnant largely to spite her future mother-in-law, who thinks she's trashy (she kind of is); and Les's new girlfriend has parents who want to marry her off to a man of her own nationality. This motif serves to underline the normalcy (and kindness) of her own family, and to contrast Alice's own reluctance to secure her independence. She's not really hooked on the idea until she realizes that being on her own means spending time with Patrick any way she wants. It's an odd implication, linking one's independence to a man, and I'd like to see the final book(s?) expand on that.
The end may be near, but Naylor does a good job making this leg of the journey as pleasant as possible (so no more neo-Nazis). And she really does capture the spirit of the final semester of high school - gearing up for graduation and prom, celebrating senior prank day and senior skip day (three whole days devoted to the seniors, guys), and having a good time with your friends. Les's roommate subplot is frankly a waste of time: he complains about how she never comes out of her room and throws away food after its expiration date. Uh, what's the problem? Isn't Pamela off doing something awesome somewhere? Because I'd much rather read about that.
P.S. I still have an uneasy feeling about Patrick. He seems like a great guy, but there's nothing particularly challenging or intriguing about him. But at least he seems devoted to Alice.
Rating: 4 graduation ceremony invitations out of 5.
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