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Alice #24
Alice on Board
In her last adventure before starting college, Alice takes to the open sea for the summer—and nothing can stop the tides of change.
Everything Alice has ever known is about to change—from where she sleeps at night to how close her closest friends will be. So Alice is meeting that seasick feeling head-on by setting sail as staff on a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship. And like any last great adventure before starting college, Alice knows she’ll need sunblock, an open mind, and…oh yeah, all her best girlfriends. It’s the perfect summer job.
Perfect, that is, when things are going perfectly. But when they’re not, Alice has to figure out how to weather unexpected storms of all sorts. Which could be perfect after all—perfect training for her next big adventure—college.
Everything Alice has ever known is about to change—from where she sleeps at night to how close her closest friends will be. So Alice is meeting that seasick feeling head-on by setting sail as staff on a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship. And like any last great adventure before starting college, Alice knows she’ll need sunblock, an open mind, and…oh yeah, all her best girlfriends. It’s the perfect summer job.
Perfect, that is, when things are going perfectly. But when they’re not, Alice has to figure out how to weather unexpected storms of all sorts. Which could be perfect after all—perfect training for her next big adventure—college.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2012
23 people are currently reading
826 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
246 books1,036 followersPhyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in Anderson, Indiana, US on January 4, 1933.
Her family were strongly religious with conservative, midwestern values and most of her childhood was spent moving a lot due to her father's occupation as a salesman.
Though she grew up during the Depression and her family did not have a lot of money, Naylor stated that she never felt poor because her family owned good books. Her parents enjoyed reading stories to the children--her father would imitate the characters in Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer--and her mother read to them every evening, "almost until we were old enough to go out on dates, though we never would have admitted this to anyone."
By the time Phyllis reached fifth grade, writing books was her favorite hobby and she would rush home from school each day to write down whatever plot had been forming in her head - at sixteen her first story was published in a local church magazine.
Phyllis has written over 80 books for children and young people. One of these books, "Shiloh," was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1992, was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and was also Young Adult Choice by the International Reading Association.
Naylor gets her ideas from things that happen to her or from things she has read. "Shiloh" was inspired by a little abused dog she and her husband found. The little dog haunted her so much that she had to write a story about him to get it out of her mind.
Her family were strongly religious with conservative, midwestern values and most of her childhood was spent moving a lot due to her father's occupation as a salesman.
Though she grew up during the Depression and her family did not have a lot of money, Naylor stated that she never felt poor because her family owned good books. Her parents enjoyed reading stories to the children--her father would imitate the characters in Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer--and her mother read to them every evening, "almost until we were old enough to go out on dates, though we never would have admitted this to anyone."
By the time Phyllis reached fifth grade, writing books was her favorite hobby and she would rush home from school each day to write down whatever plot had been forming in her head - at sixteen her first story was published in a local church magazine.
Phyllis has written over 80 books for children and young people. One of these books, "Shiloh," was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1992, was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and was also Young Adult Choice by the International Reading Association.
Naylor gets her ideas from things that happen to her or from things she has read. "Shiloh" was inspired by a little abused dog she and her husband found. The little dog haunted her so much that she had to write a story about him to get it out of her mind.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
June 6, 2012
I have loved the Alice books for about 15 years. I have grown up with Alice- unfortunately, a lot quicker than her since I have aged three years for every one of hers. I cried when Alice cried, laughed as she shared great times with Pam and Liz, and stuck through the series even if the past few books haven't been my favorites. I stuck with them because I love the character of Alice and, frankly, the end of the series is in sight. 'Alice on Board' is the second-to-last book.
That being said, this book was absolutely painful to get through.
Maybe it's because Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is a children's book author and Alice is now an adult, but PRN just seems tired of the characters. It's almost as if she has dealt with every controversial topic (suicide, death of a parent, cancer, drunk driving, abortion, loss of one's virginity, etc.) and PRN just ran out of ideas. The worst part is that there's not enough of Alice's internal monologue- which is the whole reason the Alice books are so relatable! Instead, the bulk of the (cough, almost 300) pages include a dry recitation of dull plot points. I thought a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay sounded boring when I first heard that's what "Alice on Board" was about (no offense meant to anyone) but the author's description of the cruise life in general made me want to take a nap.
Personal story: I once followed the blog of a girl who was assistant cruise director on a Carnival cruise I went on- that was more interesting than this book!
Time for nit-picks: Alice's voice is really beginning to sound out-of-touch. I've heard other people complain about this in the past, and I generously looked past it. But I can't anymore. I understand that PRN is trying to make the books somewhat timeless by avoiding most brand-names and limiting her discussions of technology, but some of the colloquialisms she uses make me cringe. If the author is too old to understand how kids these days speak then the book's editors should have pointed out that expressions like "going together" or writing text-messages like emails (um, who under the age of 60 does that?) will alienate readers. Finally, much of the boring plot involved descriptions of food, or eating, or sharing food- but it was in such awkward, unbelievable ways that I found it very distracting. For example, a group of co-workers who have just met go to Ben & Jerry's and each order a different ice cream flavor so they can swap bites- EW. In another painfully awkward scene, Alice hand-feeds (whyyy???) a new platonic male friend (emphasis on the platonic) slices of orange, alternating a slice for her and a slice for him. Um.
Of course I'll stick it out for the final Alice book, which is supposed to chronicle Alice's life from ages 18-60. I kind of shudder thinking about how PRN will pull this off, but hey, you never know. Let's just hope she realizes that Alice and Patrick DO NOT HAVE TO END UP TOGETHER even though they've been playing the Ross-Rachel game since they were in middle school.
Hope for the best, expect the worst.
That being said, this book was absolutely painful to get through.
Maybe it's because Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is a children's book author and Alice is now an adult, but PRN just seems tired of the characters. It's almost as if she has dealt with every controversial topic (suicide, death of a parent, cancer, drunk driving, abortion, loss of one's virginity, etc.) and PRN just ran out of ideas. The worst part is that there's not enough of Alice's internal monologue- which is the whole reason the Alice books are so relatable! Instead, the bulk of the (cough, almost 300) pages include a dry recitation of dull plot points. I thought a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay sounded boring when I first heard that's what "Alice on Board" was about (no offense meant to anyone) but the author's description of the cruise life in general made me want to take a nap.
Personal story: I once followed the blog of a girl who was assistant cruise director on a Carnival cruise I went on- that was more interesting than this book!
Time for nit-picks: Alice's voice is really beginning to sound out-of-touch. I've heard other people complain about this in the past, and I generously looked past it. But I can't anymore. I understand that PRN is trying to make the books somewhat timeless by avoiding most brand-names and limiting her discussions of technology, but some of the colloquialisms she uses make me cringe. If the author is too old to understand how kids these days speak then the book's editors should have pointed out that expressions like "going together" or writing text-messages like emails (um, who under the age of 60 does that?) will alienate readers. Finally, much of the boring plot involved descriptions of food, or eating, or sharing food- but it was in such awkward, unbelievable ways that I found it very distracting. For example, a group of co-workers who have just met go to Ben & Jerry's and each order a different ice cream flavor so they can swap bites- EW. In another painfully awkward scene, Alice hand-feeds (whyyy???) a new platonic male friend (emphasis on the platonic) slices of orange, alternating a slice for her and a slice for him. Um.
Of course I'll stick it out for the final Alice book, which is supposed to chronicle Alice's life from ages 18-60. I kind of shudder thinking about how PRN will pull this off, but hey, you never know. Let's just hope she realizes that Alice and Patrick DO NOT HAVE TO END UP TOGETHER even though they've been playing the Ross-Rachel game since they were in middle school.
Hope for the best, expect the worst.
March 3, 2015
Oh, Alice. I have faithfully read your books since I was ten years old and could still relate to all of your embarrassing, endearing, and sometimes edgy anecdotes. But then, sometime around "Dangerously Alice," something happened. Either I out-grew you, or Naylor really just stopped trying to hold her finger on the pulse of today's teenagers. I mean, I get it; these books are meant to be timeless and not tied to any particular era or trend. But for all of Alice's envelope-pushing status and banned-books reputation, I thought the penultimate book in the series would offer me a little more reality than Alice and Co. sailing around on a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship, sneaking into a battle-ground cemetery at night, and splitting one beer in a hotel. I'm hard-pressed to think of any real-life teenagers whose post-graduation/pre-college summers are quite so tame (or maybe my high school was just full of the crazy teens you read about in the news). This wasn't a terrible book but for me, it was definitely the weakest installment of the series so far -- and dare I say, the most out of touch. NEVERTHELESS, I will continue to treasure this series and will undoubtedly read the forthcoming "Always Alice" with a box of tissues in hand as yet another series from my childhood finally draws to a close.
June 8, 2012
the third star is out of my generous and loyal love for this series, which i've been reading for almost as long as i've had a library card. i cannot say it better than a fellow reviewer, stephanie, who said the book should have been called "alice, i'm bored."
i was really looking forward to reading about alice's summer working aboard a cruise ship, but this somehow managed to be the most boring cruise ship in operation. in spite of the drama PRN tries to inject (one of the crew members is a *gasp* SMOKER! another crew member *gasp* lost her pet turtle! a nasty man exposes himself to alice in her state room! pamela's divorced parents both show up on the same cruise!) the story fell flat. meanwhile, patrick is in barcelona for a year so their relationship is in limbo. alice meets a handsome young muskrat trapper (WHAT. omg.) working on the ship as a deckhand, and they share a flirty crab sandwich together, but their friendship remains platonic.
here's the thing- it's the 2nd-to-last book in the series and NOTHING HAPPENED. PRN introduces a bunch of half-baked cruise ship characters that won't wind up being important because it's just for the summer. even though pamela, elizabeth, and gwen were on the cruise, all they did was work and say how tired they were. the other characters- patrick and my beloved lester, alices' dad and step-mom, hardly appeared at all and these are the ones i care about. speaking of patrick, IN OR OUT DUDE.
possibly PRN was just trying to be realistic about life- which can be boring sometimes, even on cruise ships, and relationships can get stuck in limbo and your boyfriend can go to barcelona for a year and you just want to be friends with that muskrat trapper- but we're running out of books here and i was disappointed. and bored.
i was really looking forward to reading about alice's summer working aboard a cruise ship, but this somehow managed to be the most boring cruise ship in operation. in spite of the drama PRN tries to inject (one of the crew members is a *gasp* SMOKER! another crew member *gasp* lost her pet turtle! a nasty man exposes himself to alice in her state room! pamela's divorced parents both show up on the same cruise!) the story fell flat. meanwhile, patrick is in barcelona for a year so their relationship is in limbo. alice meets a handsome young muskrat trapper (WHAT. omg.) working on the ship as a deckhand, and they share a flirty crab sandwich together, but their friendship remains platonic.
here's the thing- it's the 2nd-to-last book in the series and NOTHING HAPPENED. PRN introduces a bunch of half-baked cruise ship characters that won't wind up being important because it's just for the summer. even though pamela, elizabeth, and gwen were on the cruise, all they did was work and say how tired they were. the other characters- patrick and my beloved lester, alices' dad and step-mom, hardly appeared at all and these are the ones i care about. speaking of patrick, IN OR OUT DUDE.
possibly PRN was just trying to be realistic about life- which can be boring sometimes, even on cruise ships, and relationships can get stuck in limbo and your boyfriend can go to barcelona for a year and you just want to be friends with that muskrat trapper- but we're running out of books here and i was disappointed. and bored.
July 16, 2012
First off, I admit off the bat that the only reason I've continued to read this series is that I've been reading them since the first one came out, and I just can't seem to stop, especially because the next one is the last. They've been getting progressively worse and worse, more like after-school specials than actual novels. There is no reason for you to read this book unless you, like me, have some weird need to stick with the series until the end.
I may be in the minority here, but I think Alice on Board is miles better than some of the more recent Alice titles. Alice and her friends take a job on a cruise ship the summer after they graduate high school. Yes, this had nothing to do with the previous 22 books, but I actually welcomed the change of scenery and thought it might have some appeal to non-fans as a standalone. I thought some of the details about life as a cruise ship employee were kind of fun; yes, in true Alice fashion, there has to be some huge dramatic crisis, but at least this one was original.
I may be in the minority here, but I think Alice on Board is miles better than some of the more recent Alice titles. Alice and her friends take a job on a cruise ship the summer after they graduate high school. Yes, this had nothing to do with the previous 22 books, but I actually welcomed the change of scenery and thought it might have some appeal to non-fans as a standalone. I thought some of the details about life as a cruise ship employee were kind of fun; yes, in true Alice fashion, there has to be some huge dramatic crisis, but at least this one was original.
May 27, 2012
I've been reading the Alice books since The Agony of Alice was released, and yet, I can't stop reading them. This was the worst installment by a mile, and I question if Ms. Naylor really wrote it. I thought I was reading a Babysitter's Club Super Special. Seriously, it should have been called Alice, I'm Bored. One of the worst books I have ever read.
August 23, 2020
More adventures of Alice. Like reading about Alice’s summer after he senior year before college!
One more and this series is over-don’t know if I’m prepared!
One more and this series is over-don’t know if I’m prepared!
May 24, 2012
I've been reading the Alice series since I was roughly Alice's age myself (about 12). I'm not going anywhere and I'm sure Alice's loyal fans will enjoy this installment, but I thought it was pretty lackluster. It's thin on plot and primarily episodic and although a little less "After School Special" like than some of the more recent installments, Naylor still seems to want to impart some lessons to her readers.
These books could really do with some better editing, too. The teenagers simply do not talk like teens today talk. At one point in this one, one of the characters says something like, "She is so darn, damned stubborn!"
Too much time is spent describing everyone's appearance, in a way that is meant to be offhanded, and which ultimately reads as superficial. I thought this one was a low point in the series.
These books could really do with some better editing, too. The teenagers simply do not talk like teens today talk. At one point in this one, one of the characters says something like, "She is so darn, damned stubborn!"
Too much time is spent describing everyone's appearance, in a way that is meant to be offhanded, and which ultimately reads as superficial. I thought this one was a low point in the series.
June 10, 2013
3 1/2 stars.
Looking back on my review of the last book, Incredibly Alice, I can see that I had no idea what this book would entail (I was hoping for sex, clearly). Well, on Alice's farewell-to-high-school summer aboard The Seascape, no one had sex - not even Gwen. However, I was not nearly as dissatisfied with this book as most people. I see that a main complaint is how archaic the language is. However, I've always seen Alice as a responsible, self-possessed teenager. If we want to take peek at teenagers who don't sound at all realistic, we could also look at The Fault In Our Stars (great book, but, come on). Sweet Valley is another good example. But I'm 25 - I have no idea what teenagers are supposed to sound like anymore. And I don't care about most teenagers. I care about Alice McKinley.
I always save the summer books for when it's actually summer, and it was great to read about Alice's summer when mine is mostly just beginning. There were some things that happened in this book that I wasn't expecting. Pamela's momma-drama for one. The fact that she would even CONSIDER giving up a scholarship to a theater school in New York City for her selfish, crazy mother is appalling. But it also shows you just how powerful a pull a mother can have over her child. Alice's interactions with Mitch were the best. Ditto her time spent off the ship on Tangier Island and Yorktown Battlefield at night. The book has a slow crawl in the beginning with all the talk being about the (extremely ghetto) ship. But I knew Alice's best adventures would happen in her time off the ship, and I wasn't wrong. I just longed for more, because I didn't care about ship life (since she wasn't working for Carnival or going to the Caribbean). I live all around some of the places mentioned, so it was cool to think that Alice was sailing around my home(s). I can imagine she is doing it right now, in fact. The thing I love most about all of the Alice books (especially the summer ones) is how they all come tinged with anticipation, possibility, and nostalgia. Alice On Board, especially, was very bittersweet. I can't believe we get only ONE 500-page book about her college and senior-citizen years. But I know we can't follow Alice forever. It's just a shame that writers think the only interesting time period in a person's life is high school. FYI: It isn't.
My one complaint here deals with Patrick. I haven't liked him since he left Alice all those years ago in ninth grade for Penny. By tenth grade she still wasn't over it (and we got some great quotes out of that too). I'm not over it, either, and I can't even remember the time when she officially took him back. The whole relationship seems tenuous at best. Also, at this point, they are horribly mismatched. Alice and Mitch were perfect in this book, because they both love their hometowns. We learned in Incredibly Alice (and even way before that) that Alice isn't really one to go far away. She tells Mitch that after college she wants to be a counselor at a school no more than an hour from home. Aside from suggesting a post-college road trip to California with her friends in this book, Alice has never been the adventuresome type. Notice that none of the titles, either, were ever Adventurous Alice or anything like that. Patrick has been all over the world and has been lightyears ahead of Alice in schoolwork for a long time now. They live in different worlds, metaphorically and literally. That she still gets so worked up about him is a testament to their history but not, I would venture, to anything else. Naylor is only throwing them together because it's what the fans want. But, let me tell you fans: YOU NEED TO STOP WANTING THIS. Alice and Patrick make no sense anymore. She is going to school in Maryland. He went to school in Chicago and is currently abroad in Spain. I mean... come on. How could that ever work and be fair to either partner? This is an "I don't love you, but I always will" type of situation. Let it go.
I KNOW there will be sex in the last book. However, if I don't hear about Alice losing her virginity at SOME point in college, I will lose my mind. It was still only spelled out in Alice On Board, and I about lost my mind. These books used to be on every banned book list in the country. What happened to all the masturbating and talk of Arabian Nights? Seriously, nobody wants to hear about Alice's loss of virginity on her wedding night in a flashback when she is 60. I will scream and throw the book across the room. I, like Alice, can be an extreme homebody. But I also am MUCH more adventurous. I didn't keep my virginity past 22, though it wasn't for lack of trying before that. And I'm not married. Alice has more of a social life than I could ever hope for, so you can't tell me she won't meet another Mitch in college. In fact, Mitch the Trapper is the perfect guy for her to lose her virginity to. Let's make that happen.
Always Alice has changed to Now I'll Tell You Everything (why...????) and won't be released until October. I'm glad I waited until this summer to read this book, so I don't have to wait long for the last one. I don't understand the delay beyond it being the last book but, hey, it's been written forever. Just fucking release it already. I need to know what happens to Alice. Because I love her, and because she is the only character I have genuinely cared about so long. We have nothing in common, but she is very real. And she brings out the best in us all.
Looking back on my review of the last book, Incredibly Alice, I can see that I had no idea what this book would entail (I was hoping for sex, clearly). Well, on Alice's farewell-to-high-school summer aboard The Seascape, no one had sex - not even Gwen. However, I was not nearly as dissatisfied with this book as most people. I see that a main complaint is how archaic the language is. However, I've always seen Alice as a responsible, self-possessed teenager. If we want to take peek at teenagers who don't sound at all realistic, we could also look at The Fault In Our Stars (great book, but, come on). Sweet Valley is another good example. But I'm 25 - I have no idea what teenagers are supposed to sound like anymore. And I don't care about most teenagers. I care about Alice McKinley.
I always save the summer books for when it's actually summer, and it was great to read about Alice's summer when mine is mostly just beginning. There were some things that happened in this book that I wasn't expecting. Pamela's momma-drama for one. The fact that she would even CONSIDER giving up a scholarship to a theater school in New York City for her selfish, crazy mother is appalling. But it also shows you just how powerful a pull a mother can have over her child. Alice's interactions with Mitch were the best. Ditto her time spent off the ship on Tangier Island and Yorktown Battlefield at night. The book has a slow crawl in the beginning with all the talk being about the (extremely ghetto) ship. But I knew Alice's best adventures would happen in her time off the ship, and I wasn't wrong. I just longed for more, because I didn't care about ship life (since she wasn't working for Carnival or going to the Caribbean). I live all around some of the places mentioned, so it was cool to think that Alice was sailing around my home(s). I can imagine she is doing it right now, in fact. The thing I love most about all of the Alice books (especially the summer ones) is how they all come tinged with anticipation, possibility, and nostalgia. Alice On Board, especially, was very bittersweet. I can't believe we get only ONE 500-page book about her college and senior-citizen years. But I know we can't follow Alice forever. It's just a shame that writers think the only interesting time period in a person's life is high school. FYI: It isn't.
My one complaint here deals with Patrick. I haven't liked him since he left Alice all those years ago in ninth grade for Penny. By tenth grade she still wasn't over it (and we got some great quotes out of that too). I'm not over it, either, and I can't even remember the time when she officially took him back. The whole relationship seems tenuous at best. Also, at this point, they are horribly mismatched. Alice and Mitch were perfect in this book, because they both love their hometowns. We learned in Incredibly Alice (and even way before that) that Alice isn't really one to go far away. She tells Mitch that after college she wants to be a counselor at a school no more than an hour from home. Aside from suggesting a post-college road trip to California with her friends in this book, Alice has never been the adventuresome type. Notice that none of the titles, either, were ever Adventurous Alice or anything like that. Patrick has been all over the world and has been lightyears ahead of Alice in schoolwork for a long time now. They live in different worlds, metaphorically and literally. That she still gets so worked up about him is a testament to their history but not, I would venture, to anything else. Naylor is only throwing them together because it's what the fans want. But, let me tell you fans: YOU NEED TO STOP WANTING THIS. Alice and Patrick make no sense anymore. She is going to school in Maryland. He went to school in Chicago and is currently abroad in Spain. I mean... come on. How could that ever work and be fair to either partner? This is an "I don't love you, but I always will" type of situation. Let it go.
I KNOW there will be sex in the last book. However, if I don't hear about Alice losing her virginity at SOME point in college, I will lose my mind. It was still only spelled out in Alice On Board, and I about lost my mind. These books used to be on every banned book list in the country. What happened to all the masturbating and talk of Arabian Nights? Seriously, nobody wants to hear about Alice's loss of virginity on her wedding night in a flashback when she is 60. I will scream and throw the book across the room. I, like Alice, can be an extreme homebody. But I also am MUCH more adventurous. I didn't keep my virginity past 22, though it wasn't for lack of trying before that. And I'm not married. Alice has more of a social life than I could ever hope for, so you can't tell me she won't meet another Mitch in college. In fact, Mitch the Trapper is the perfect guy for her to lose her virginity to. Let's make that happen.
Always Alice has changed to Now I'll Tell You Everything (why...????) and won't be released until October. I'm glad I waited until this summer to read this book, so I don't have to wait long for the last one. I don't understand the delay beyond it being the last book but, hey, it's been written forever. Just fucking release it already. I need to know what happens to Alice. Because I love her, and because she is the only character I have genuinely cared about so long. We have nothing in common, but she is very real. And she brings out the best in us all.
March 1, 2018
This book felt like filler to me -- something to pass the time and get Alice and her friends into a different setting before Naylor can whisk her off to college and the rest of her life (I'm eagerly awaiting the epilogue of her life, at least)!
When Alice was excited that something bad (but eventful) had occurred on the cruise line just to have something she could write about to Patrick...I would say that summed up my experiences with Alice over the most recent years. Is anything going to happen that I can write home about? No? Alice is still the average teen girl, not quite sophisticated, yearning after adventure and watching from the sidelines as her "exotic" non-boyfriend Patrick starts college early, travels the world, and does his study abroad in Barcelona?
I guess even the everygirl needs a book about someone like herself. We can't all be teen superheroes, spies, socialites, mutants, vampires, and so on.
But Ms. Naylor! Alice has become a virtual non-entity, she is so average and boring...she can't carry a book at this point, or a lengthy series, for that matter. What can I write home about?
Even her foolhardy (but harmless) teenage shenanigans seem to be from the 1950s or 1960s. "Tee hee! Oh dear, I misbehaved!" I understand Naylor may be drawing from her own youthful shenanigans and that this is her putting a little something personal into the story, but Alice suffers from this as a character. I can barely remember her misbehavior, compared to the iconic embarrassments she suffered in her middle school years, these hardly define her in any way. To my memory, she rarely ever speaks up to stay out of the shenanigans, nor is she ever the instigator. And one of those two would be more interesting.
The one improvement I definitely noticed is that Alice and her friends sound a little more contemporary in this book, though still not much like a person under 30. Hoping this means Naylor has a beta reader or editor who is a little bit closer to the target reader age.
When Alice was excited that something bad (but eventful) had occurred on the cruise line just to have something she could write about to Patrick...I would say that summed up my experiences with Alice over the most recent years. Is anything going to happen that I can write home about? No? Alice is still the average teen girl, not quite sophisticated, yearning after adventure and watching from the sidelines as her "exotic" non-boyfriend Patrick starts college early, travels the world, and does his study abroad in Barcelona?
I guess even the everygirl needs a book about someone like herself. We can't all be teen superheroes, spies, socialites, mutants, vampires, and so on.
But Ms. Naylor! Alice has become a virtual non-entity, she is so average and boring...she can't carry a book at this point, or a lengthy series, for that matter. What can I write home about?
Even her foolhardy (but harmless) teenage shenanigans seem to be from the 1950s or 1960s. "Tee hee! Oh dear, I misbehaved!" I understand Naylor may be drawing from her own youthful shenanigans and that this is her putting a little something personal into the story, but Alice suffers from this as a character. I can barely remember her misbehavior, compared to the iconic embarrassments she suffered in her middle school years, these hardly define her in any way. To my memory, she rarely ever speaks up to stay out of the shenanigans, nor is she ever the instigator. And one of those two would be more interesting.
The one improvement I definitely noticed is that Alice and her friends sound a little more contemporary in this book, though still not much like a person under 30. Hoping this means Naylor has a beta reader or editor who is a little bit closer to the target reader age.
September 1, 2012
I've read all of the Alice books so far, and loved the early ones. I even started buying all of them because I wanted to collect the entire series. Alice was so funny, and so prone to embarrassing mishaps. But somewhere around the time that the books became more "young adult" (by which I mean smaller in size, and less cartoony in the cover art), the quality of the books started going down. I was getting bored, and not much seemed to be happening, plot-wise. I stopped buying the new books and settled for reading them whenever I happened to see them at the library. And I decided to sell off my collection of Alice books, whenever I got around to borrowing my parents' digital camera so I could stick it up on ebay.
So I was surprised to find out that I actually enjoyed this latest Alice adventure. Her beloved family is barely in this one, and though her friends accompany her as she spends her summer working on a new cruise line, I found that there was a lot more Alice in this one, and I liked it. But not enough to keep all my old Alice books.
So I was surprised to find out that I actually enjoyed this latest Alice adventure. Her beloved family is barely in this one, and though her friends accompany her as she spends her summer working on a new cruise line, I found that there was a lot more Alice in this one, and I liked it. But not enough to keep all my old Alice books.
July 11, 2014
I had high hopes for the second-to-last Alice book, after all, I do love the books about her summers. And a summer on a cruise ship? I've been looking forward to this all year! I did find that this book fell a little short, though. Also, I obviously don't remember what happened in the last couple of books, because I didn't remember Alice going on the date with that guy, Ryan or whatever.
I can't believe that, this time next year, the Alice series will be done. WAH!
I can't believe that, this time next year, the Alice series will be done. WAH!
July 30, 2018
I enjoyed this book so much! Alice and her friends are working on a cruise ship for the summer, and it’s their last chance to spend time together before they go off on their separate ways to college. I sort of picked up early on that something was going to happen on this cruise that wasn’t going to be exactly planned, so I won’t spoil what it was. But it reminded me of that cruise ship that got stranded years back in the gulf and everyone was miserable! I will miss this series when it’s over. One more book to read, but it might be a while before I can get to that one since my library doesn’t have that one. It’s hard to believe Alice is already going off to college!
unfinished
February 20, 2013I'll probably never finish this. I don't have time to waste on boring books. I like Alice books a lot & plan to get the last one. She could have done way more with this one. Time for Alice to get a little crazy. And when will she have sex with Patrick dammit? That's basically what I've been waiting for in the past six books, lol.'
November 15, 2012
Somehow I missed the twenty-third book in this series, but it doesn't matter. Alice has devolved into one of the most boring teenagers I've ever read about. She reads like a much older person. This book does little to advance her growth, or my interest in finishing the series.
September 19, 2021
Alice on Board is definitely the worst Alice book, and I've read each one multiple times. Alice constantly tells us how lucky she was to get a job on the cruise ship but it sounds awful, basically all manual labor. I thought it would be more like their job at camp with interesting side characters and plots but they all fell flat to me. I think PRN must have known someone who worked on a cruise ship and wanted to write about it.
I was surprised that even though Liz, Pam, and Gwen are on the ship with her, Alice would want to be away all summer before she started college. That summer is one last time to hang out with all your friends and family, buy things for your dorm room, etc.
The one plotline that includes characters we know about, Pamela's parents, is just sad. After reading all the high school books about Pamela, I just feel bad about the way her parents have treated her and know it's going to be a lifelong issue.
I am SO SICK of hearing about Patrick and the way Alice idolizes him. Just because Lester tells her to keep her updates positive, she thinks of every experience as something to tell him. It's been a long time since I was a teenager so even though Alice/Patrick have had some moments, she takes his feelings much too seriously and I'm hoping she lets go of the attachment eventually.
For true Alice fans, this is a must read simply because it includes her. Not worth rereading like many of the other books.
I was surprised that even though Liz, Pam, and Gwen are on the ship with her, Alice would want to be away all summer before she started college. That summer is one last time to hang out with all your friends and family, buy things for your dorm room, etc.
The one plotline that includes characters we know about, Pamela's parents, is just sad. After reading all the high school books about Pamela, I just feel bad about the way her parents have treated her and know it's going to be a lifelong issue.
I am SO SICK of hearing about Patrick and the way Alice idolizes him. Just because Lester tells her to keep her updates positive, she thinks of every experience as something to tell him. It's been a long time since I was a teenager so even though Alice/Patrick have had some moments, she takes his feelings much too seriously and I'm hoping she lets go of the attachment eventually.
For true Alice fans, this is a must read simply because it includes her. Not worth rereading like many of the other books.
August 13, 2017
I admit that this book, mostly the beginning and middle, was pretty slow for an Alice book. The setting is completely different - a Chesapeake Bay cruise - and we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters - crew members. Besides Mitch, Flavian, and Shannon, though, the new characters were really not that discernible from each other. The cruise life was interesting, though, and the part where the power went out was especially interesting. And of course let's not forget Pamela's mom. I liked the end of the book, with Lester starting to see Alice as more of a help and less of a nuisance. Wow. Alice really is grown up. This may not have been the most exciting book, but it is the last normal-length one in the series, the last one before Alice goes off to college. I know I'll be blown away by Now I'll Tell You Everything.
July 16, 2018
This was obviously just a filler book and tbh I did some speed-reading throughout the last 30 percent or so.
But now I only have one book left and I am excited to get to it at some point probably this fall or winter!
But now I only have one book left and I am excited to get to it at some point probably this fall or winter!
September 7, 2019
Probably one of my least favourite Alice novels. Nothing really happened to progress Alice's story, this just seemed to be an in-between book until the final novel.
April 3, 2020
This seemed such a pointless book for me. I do not really know why it was written because it seems it was just here to get to the 28 books in the series and was pushed in before the last book.
April 20, 2020
Long time reader of the Alice Series. Picked it up for a re read for the Stay Home Reading Rush
November 5, 2016
The stuff with Pamela and her mother was super intense.
May 31, 2013
I'll admit that I stopped reading Naylor's Alice McKinley series around the time Elizabeth had one of those three-day, never-again-mentioned bouts with anorexia that is so common on TV shows and in books. Admittedly, by the time The Grooming of Alice was released, I was seventeen and beyond the target age for the books anyway. But there are a lot of very funny, memorable moments in earlier installments that have stayed with me - Alice's list of things that make her responsible, Pamela's hilariously dramatic reaction to having to cut her hair after gum gets stuck in it, Elizabeth's insistence on calling sex "mating," Alice's desire to have "breasts like twin pomegranates." Although Naylor's grasp of teen culture has always been tenuous at best (even in 2001 I thought Alice talked like a middle-aged lady rather than like a teenager), she more than makes up for it in the funny situations and heartfelt inner monologue she writes so well.
All of this is absent in Alice on Board, the last installment of the series before Naylor releases a 600-page finale to the series that will cover Alice's life from ages 18 to 60. Reading through reviews of the 11 books I've missed, it sounds as though the series has slowly lost the heart and humor that made them so much fun to read, and nowhere is this more apparent than in this book. Alice and her friends seem strangely adult for 18, having their whole lives planned out in a neat and perfect fashion; I don't know any teenagers who, when dreaming of a post-college summer road trip with their best high school friends, respond with "I'll be in medical school so I'll try to make it." Alice, Pamela, Elizabeth, and Gwen plod through their summer job on a cruise ship with very little incident, and the day-to-day life of a maid on a cruise ship just isn't interesting enough to carry the book by itself.
I will be reading the last book in the Alice series for nostalgia and just to see what the ultimate fate of some of my favorite characters (Lester, Sylvia, Pamela) will be. But if this book is any indication, Naylor no longer knows what makes Alice tick - and I fear that she's continued writing about this children's realistic-fiction favorite far longer than she ever intended because of the character's fanbase.
All of this is absent in Alice on Board, the last installment of the series before Naylor releases a 600-page finale to the series that will cover Alice's life from ages 18 to 60. Reading through reviews of the 11 books I've missed, it sounds as though the series has slowly lost the heart and humor that made them so much fun to read, and nowhere is this more apparent than in this book. Alice and her friends seem strangely adult for 18, having their whole lives planned out in a neat and perfect fashion; I don't know any teenagers who, when dreaming of a post-college summer road trip with their best high school friends, respond with "I'll be in medical school so I'll try to make it." Alice, Pamela, Elizabeth, and Gwen plod through their summer job on a cruise ship with very little incident, and the day-to-day life of a maid on a cruise ship just isn't interesting enough to carry the book by itself.
I will be reading the last book in the Alice series for nostalgia and just to see what the ultimate fate of some of my favorite characters (Lester, Sylvia, Pamela) will be. But if this book is any indication, Naylor no longer knows what makes Alice tick - and I fear that she's continued writing about this children's realistic-fiction favorite far longer than she ever intended because of the character's fanbase.
October 4, 2012
Alice McKinley has finally graduated high school and is spending the summer before college working on a cruise ship with her best friends. She has some tiny adventures, one or two big adventures, and misses Patrick the whole time. The end.
I used to love the Alice books, primarily because of how relateable Alice was. I felt it in this book but instead of enjoying this one I thought it was kind of annoying. Alice felt more like a walking PSA than a teenage girl and her feelings were too defined to seem real. She didn't go through any of that confusing emotional stuff she went through in past books but no one is that clear when it comes to emotions. I will say that the book did flow like life usually goes-lots of little memorable instances with one or two arcs that last for a while but on the whole, unexciting.
For anyone like me who followed Alice all the way to this book I will tell you now: nothing important happens. Don't waste your time on this book unless you have nothing better to do with your time. Please believe me-I read reviews saying exactly this and didn't trust them and look where that got me. I'm excited for the last book and to see what happens to Alice but I'm not excited enough to give this book a good rating. All relationships, friendships, and lives are exactly the same as they were at the end of the previous book, so chill out and read something else.
For anyone who hasn't realized it yet, Alice is going to end up with Patrick. I wasn't sure if Naylor would go the obvious route with Patrick or if she would have Alice be with someone we don't know but this book confirmed (for me) that it would be Patrick. A tiny part of me thought maybe Mitch (new guy in this book) but since Alice is going to college and Mitch is going home I highly doubt that will happen.
I used to love the Alice books, primarily because of how relateable Alice was. I felt it in this book but instead of enjoying this one I thought it was kind of annoying. Alice felt more like a walking PSA than a teenage girl and her feelings were too defined to seem real. She didn't go through any of that confusing emotional stuff she went through in past books but no one is that clear when it comes to emotions. I will say that the book did flow like life usually goes-lots of little memorable instances with one or two arcs that last for a while but on the whole, unexciting.
For anyone like me who followed Alice all the way to this book I will tell you now: nothing important happens. Don't waste your time on this book unless you have nothing better to do with your time. Please believe me-I read reviews saying exactly this and didn't trust them and look where that got me. I'm excited for the last book and to see what happens to Alice but I'm not excited enough to give this book a good rating. All relationships, friendships, and lives are exactly the same as they were at the end of the previous book, so chill out and read something else.
For anyone who hasn't realized it yet, Alice is going to end up with Patrick. I wasn't sure if Naylor would go the obvious route with Patrick or if she would have Alice be with someone we don't know but this book confirmed (for me) that it would be Patrick. A tiny part of me thought maybe Mitch (new guy in this book) but since Alice is going to college and Mitch is going home I highly doubt that will happen.
December 10, 2014
This second-to-last book in the long-running Alice McKinley series features even-keeled heroine Alice the summer before she goes away to college. She and her faithful besties Pamela, Liz, Gwen, and Yolanda have all scored great summer jobs on board a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship, and all five of them are eager to have one last adventure together before they go their separate ways in the fall.
At first, Alice’s summer on the seas is a dream; despite the hard work, she is enjoying all of the excursions in port towns around the Bay and cutting loose with her friends and new coworkers. Stormy weather is on the horizon, however, when personal drama and trouble with the ship begin to bob to the surface. Pamela’s mother is dragging her daughter into a boatload of trouble, rules are broken, Alice’s first love Patrick is jetting off to Spain without so much as a goodbye text, and the ship itself might be in serious financial and mechanical trouble.
Will Alice and her girlfriends be able to weather the storm and salvage their last summer together? As always, the Alice McKinley series is filled with warm and realistic stories of friendship and love (flaws and all), and readers will be sad to say goodbye to Alice next year when the final book is published.
This review originally appeared on abookandahug.com
At first, Alice’s summer on the seas is a dream; despite the hard work, she is enjoying all of the excursions in port towns around the Bay and cutting loose with her friends and new coworkers. Stormy weather is on the horizon, however, when personal drama and trouble with the ship begin to bob to the surface. Pamela’s mother is dragging her daughter into a boatload of trouble, rules are broken, Alice’s first love Patrick is jetting off to Spain without so much as a goodbye text, and the ship itself might be in serious financial and mechanical trouble.
Will Alice and her girlfriends be able to weather the storm and salvage their last summer together? As always, the Alice McKinley series is filled with warm and realistic stories of friendship and love (flaws and all), and readers will be sad to say goodbye to Alice next year when the final book is published.
This review originally appeared on abookandahug.com
October 1, 2013
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is an amazing author. Her "Alice" series is loved by many including myself but "Alice on Board" is not one of my favorites. This book is about her life as a senior and how the main character, Alice, works on the Chesapeake Cruise with her friends after graduation. Alice is realizing how different things will be once the summer is over and everyone goes their separate ways. Her friends,(Pamela, Liz, and Gwen), will all start their own lives and chase after their dreams. Alice also has some tough decisions to make such as what college she wants to go to, what to do when Liz has to go to the hospital, and if she should loose her virginity to Patrick or wait till they can be together.
When I read this I was a bit disappointed but I still enjoyed reading it. Naylor has made better "Alice" books like "Including Alice", "Patiently Alice", or even "Almost Alice". My reasoning is that there is a lot more drama in these other books. "Alice on Board" was more about decision making and growing up. I guess I would prefer a more dramatic book. Even though it wasn't my favorite out of the series I would still recommend it. This could be a book young adults could relate to since it has your everyday thought and feelings. Reading this book could help someone make a decision and let someone know they are not the only ones going through tough situations.
When I read this I was a bit disappointed but I still enjoyed reading it. Naylor has made better "Alice" books like "Including Alice", "Patiently Alice", or even "Almost Alice". My reasoning is that there is a lot more drama in these other books. "Alice on Board" was more about decision making and growing up. I guess I would prefer a more dramatic book. Even though it wasn't my favorite out of the series I would still recommend it. This could be a book young adults could relate to since it has your everyday thought and feelings. Reading this book could help someone make a decision and let someone know they are not the only ones going through tough situations.
June 4, 2013
This makes me so sad to say, since I've been reading these books for almost 14 years (holy crap!), but Alice's time is over. As everyone else has said, Alice's internal monologue is nearer to that of a 57 year old than a 17 year old, using terminology that has been out of touch since the 80s, the storylines are dry, and I just miss the way Alice used to be - sitting around the pool, joking with the gang, worrying about teenager things, not dealing with a million major issues at once. She spends more time talking about minor details (the lack of toilets on the stranded ship) than she does about actual important things that involve characters we have grown to love (Pamela deciding if she will or won't go to New York). The books aren't funny anymore (to take a page from Dangerously Alice, they're DD - Dry as Dust... Although you'd be hard-pressed to find a teenager who would ever use that phrase) and they've just lost the heart that they used to have. The more current YA novel series (Hunger Games, Twilight, etc.) are clearly able to connect with their readers, while PRN seems to have given up on Alice and is writing more to finish the series than for the fans. That said... I'm both happy and sad the series is wrapping up. Alice deserves better than this.
June 26, 2012
3 stars is generous, but I went into this with really low expectations and it wasn't quite as disappointing as I anticipated. The last couple of Alice books were so frustratingly bad that I swore them off, but when this one appeared in my hands as I was cataloging, I couldn't resist. In some ways, this one reminds me of the earlier Alice books. The only problem is that this is the second-to-last Alice book, and the last normal Alice book, so it would have been nice if it focused more on the characters we've grown close to over the series. Alice's family hardly makes an appearance, and though Liz and Pamela play large roles, it never feels like any of what happens has real weight or impact. Alice is pretty passive and doesn't seem changed by the summer, or even by the thought of starting college. What could have been a gut-wrenching crush on a new boy is presented as a fond friendship with no real tension. It was honestly pretty dull, but at least it wasn't as melodramatic as some of the others.
July 11, 2013
Alice has just graduated high school and she and her friends are spending their summer working as stewards on a cruise line that sails the east coast. What they didn't know before they signed on was that in a prior life the ship was a junker and when they refurbished it for this set of cruises they didn't do much beyond touching up the paint.
I loved all the details of setting in this title. Through Alice's eyes the author takes readers on a first hand experience of working aboard a ship. The side drama involving Pamela's parents was a little lame for me, but the day to day views of Alice's summer job kept me turning the pages.
This book in the Alice series was different from the other that have come before it because while aboard ship Alice had very little to no contact with the secondary characters not sailing the cruise with her. Therefore, this book did little to advance the storylines of Alice's parents, Lester, or even Patrick.
Can't wait for the next title when Alice heads off to college!
Recommended for teens grades 9 and up.
I loved all the details of setting in this title. Through Alice's eyes the author takes readers on a first hand experience of working aboard a ship. The side drama involving Pamela's parents was a little lame for me, but the day to day views of Alice's summer job kept me turning the pages.
This book in the Alice series was different from the other that have come before it because while aboard ship Alice had very little to no contact with the secondary characters not sailing the cruise with her. Therefore, this book did little to advance the storylines of Alice's parents, Lester, or even Patrick.
Can't wait for the next title when Alice heads off to college!
Recommended for teens grades 9 and up.
February 1, 2014
How do you spend your summer before college? Well, ten weeks working on a cruise ship on the Chesapeake Bay with a group of your high school friends doesn’t seem half bad.
Would this be considered chick lit? I mostly checked it out because it’s based on life as a cruise staff. Honestly, it was a good read, but it’s only a decent read if you can accept there’s no real thrust to the story. There are a variety of brewing conflicts, but none ever boil over into a climax and resolution. It’s a good transitional story after you’ve read something a little more complicated. This is not to say the writing is bad. On the contrary, I would not have finished it if it had been meandering nonsense. Think of it as one senior high school girl’s diary with observations and reflections about relationships, family, and growing up.
A must-read? Not quite. A weekend quick read? Definitely.
Woe, this is part of a series? Interesting. Okay, if you’re into this genre, I’d start at the beginning. I fear my comments here may be unfair given I’m coming in at the second to last stop.
Would this be considered chick lit? I mostly checked it out because it’s based on life as a cruise staff. Honestly, it was a good read, but it’s only a decent read if you can accept there’s no real thrust to the story. There are a variety of brewing conflicts, but none ever boil over into a climax and resolution. It’s a good transitional story after you’ve read something a little more complicated. This is not to say the writing is bad. On the contrary, I would not have finished it if it had been meandering nonsense. Think of it as one senior high school girl’s diary with observations and reflections about relationships, family, and growing up.
A must-read? Not quite. A weekend quick read? Definitely.
Woe, this is part of a series? Interesting. Okay, if you’re into this genre, I’d start at the beginning. I fear my comments here may be unfair given I’m coming in at the second to last stop.
June 25, 2012
Alice and her friends are spending the summer working on a cruise ship that runs along the East Coast, and she is excited for adventure. But with Patrick away in Spain, Alice wonders if their parallel lives will ever cross again.
So in this Alice book, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS. Really. They all work on a cruise ship, Alice pines for Patrick, and there's a lost turtle. Also, this book reinforced my desire to never go on another cruise again in my life. But for all of my griping, I enjoyed reading about Alice, Liz, Pamela, and OF COURSE Lester, who IMO is the best character in the series,...I just think the series has lost its steam in the last few years. I heard that the last book will encompass the next 50 years for Alice, and I don't even know how that's going to go. But of course I'll read it. I look forward to reading about Alice and Patrick and their 2.5 kids and a dog. You know it'll happen.
So in this Alice book, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS. Really. They all work on a cruise ship, Alice pines for Patrick, and there's a lost turtle. Also, this book reinforced my desire to never go on another cruise again in my life. But for all of my griping, I enjoyed reading about Alice, Liz, Pamela, and OF COURSE Lester, who IMO is the best character in the series,...I just think the series has lost its steam in the last few years. I heard that the last book will encompass the next 50 years for Alice, and I don't even know how that's going to go. But of course I'll read it. I look forward to reading about Alice and Patrick and their 2.5 kids and a dog. You know it'll happen.
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