Intensely Alice

Alice #21

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Wouldn’t it be great to go back to the time before Pam got pregnant, before Patrick left for the University of Chicago, before anyone was making any big decisions about sex or college or life in general? Wouldn’t it be great to get the whole gang together again, just once? What it takes for this to happen will change Alice (and the whole gang) forever. A funeral is not a happy reunion. Full of life—the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking—the latest Alice book reminds us just how much can change in an instant.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Banned Books, Teen, Childrens, Chick Lit

269 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2009

About the author

Phyllis 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.

Reviews

[Sheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just start by saying that Alice McKinley is one of my favorite characters. When I first started reading this serious I thought that Alice's character was too goody. But I love how Phyllis Reynolds Naylor shows the life of a teenage girl without going overboard. I love how real the characters are and all the unexpected problems. I really wasn't expecting the death in this story but like the description said this book is a reminder of just how much can change in an instant. I can't wait to read the next book and see what else happens with Alice! (And one more thing I recommend this book to every teenage girl).

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great! Made me tear up!

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, yeah, I know, but I've read all the Alice books (again: yeah, yeah, I know). The latest one isn't bad, about on par with the rest of them. I do suspect we're seeing Alice's life maybe a little too closely--it's all very realistic, but I think a lot of her conversations don't need to be represented.

(This latest book is Alice and her Crisis of Faith, so most of her conversations revolve around her questions of God. There's also a Bible-thumping character who is actively pestering everyone else about converting to her brand of Christianity so their souls will be saved; it's pretty heavy-handed on the Religious Tolerance message.)

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I prefer the summer books, because I like reading about Alice hanging out with her friends, not how much homework she has, and how busy she is with all her extra-curricular activities. And any book with Carol in it is a-okay in my book. But I'm SO tired of Alice and Patrick. Like, the last book won't even be out for two more years, yet I'm already sure that Alice with either marry Patrick, or end up with him in her older years at the end of the book. But I digress... There's a few chapters of religious debate which bored me.

And it's sad that Mark died, but even though he's been around for most of the series, I don't really feel like he ever had any characterization of his own, so it wasn't like it was all that sad. Yes, his name was always mentioned, since they hung at his pool every summer, but he was always Brian's friend. Then Keeno's friend. Brian's the asshole, Keeno's the clown, Patrick's the brain, but what was Mark? He was just a background character. I think the only reason I cried when Mark died (other than because I'm a sap) is because it brought Alice and her friends such pain, not because I'd miss him.

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vile.

[kreyul · Rating 3 out of 5]

MARK

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Honestly one of the most solid late series entries. These books are complete comfort food to me which is absolutely what I need in the year of our lord 2020. You know I'm not in, uh, a good headspace when a quote from David the preacher, a tertiary character at best, makes me cry.

I enjoyed seeing Alice wrestle with big questions here, in a way that feels right for her age (17). She was raised mildly Christian, but now she's questioning things how large scale suffering can exist if God is both all-knowing and loving. I generally feel like PRN can be a bit whack-you-over-the-head with her values, so I appreciated that there's no clean conclusion to this extremely messy question.

This is also the one where Alice and her friends experience a big death. I remembered that Mark died from my first reading of the book, and I remember kind of being like, "wait, who?" because Mark is not a particularly notable character. He's usually just mentioned in relation to his pool (Alice drinking game idea: take a shot every time PRN mentions Mark Stedmeister's pool). Reading this book again, there's a fair amount of foreshadowing if you know someone dies, but don't know who. Suddenly Mark is popping up in more scenes, volunteering at a soup kitchen, being a hero to some asshole party crashers, being a loving and respectful son to his parents in front of all his friends. Had a more central character died, I think his death would have made a bigger impact on me as a reader. I found the descriptions of grief to be pretty solid overall. The anger, the numbness, the frustration at watching people grieve in ways you can't relate to.

The one where:
- The....park bench dalliance (truly the thing I remember the most from my original reading)
- Alice gets sexually harassed on a plane (100% forgot this)
- Alice and her friends housesit for Lester for two weeks in a way that reminded me of my early days of college
- The week of volunteering at the soup kitchen was stretched into three or four chapters when it definitely could have been a tight one chapter event

Definitely one of my favorite late series books, and also one of the ones that I did not remember as well from my initial reading. It was really all about the park bench HJ for 2009 me

[Anna Juszczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of this Intensely Alice moves quickly and keeps you interested, but also does a good job of concentrating on moments that are important and that readers enjoy most. Its starts of with Alice and her friends beginning their last summer while attending high school. Alice then goes on a visit to Chicago for her aunt's wedding, and also meets her boyfriend Patrick there because he attends college at the UOC. Alice then returns home and volunteers with friends. During this time, tragic events happen and Alice questions things for the future. One part I wish was focused on longer, though, was when Alice visited Patrick. I strongly related to this part of the story and I wished it went into further detail.
I really liked Alice in this story. Her modesty and questioning of the future is something I can really relate to as a current high school student. A large theme through out this story is the idea of what one wants in the future. Alice contemplates various immediate things she does and does not want in the future, like moving far away from her parents when she leaves to college. She also contemplates her long term future by examining her spirituality and religious beliefs. This aspect of spirituality is one aspect that I was surprised to read about in the story. When I first picked up the book, I thought it was going to be another fun teenage read about drama and boys; unexpectedly, though, that book brought many questions and in depth thoughts that I believe elevated the story to another level and made me truly like it.

[Emily Ack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up reading the Alice series and recently realized that I'm not sure I ever finished the entire Alice story. At some point, I probably convinced myself that I outgrew the books. Boy, was that stupid of me.

The writing isn't sophisticated and the storyline isn't complex. I haven't mapped it myself, but Naylor must have a mental map of the timeline (like this is summer before senior year), which means... the book itself doesn't have a story arc, because life doesn't follow story arcs. I'm okay with that.

I think the themes explored are quite appropriate for the intended audience and we know that Alice has grown up. In some ways, I wish I could go back in time and read this more slowly. It's so digestible that I read it in a day, but I find myself considering and analyzing--

The off-hand comment that Gwen makes about, "Oh gee, if Patrick actually committed himself to your relationship..."
The interaction of Alice with the man on the plane.
The ways in which we relate to others in times of grief and true vulnerability of having friendships.
The ways in which peer groups guide decisions moreso than parents.
The Crystal/Les dynamic.
The Alice/Sylvia truly honest conversation and how that strengthened their relationship.

It's a shame that I had to be an adult to appreciate these subtle things.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's books that make me cry the most. There's no way I can talk about this without talking about the ending, except to say that it hit me as hard as the end of her earlier book Alice in April, 16 books ago or so.

Though it's very obvious she makes Alice the normal, the middle, the median character in comparison to her more extreme friends, in order to give a relatable archetype, she still does it with such care that Alice never seems like a caricature - she seems real, and human, and through her I can be excited and sad in turns.

I loved this book from start to finish, and am only sad that now I have to wait another whole year for the next one.

[Ramarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long-running series about Alice McKinley, a young teen whose struggles with the various challenges of growing up serve as a springboard for different issues, from faith to death to sexuality, and more. Alice is a a very realistically-drawn character that I'm sure many young readers can relate to. I appreciate the conversational tone the author takes, and how she works in different "issues" in a very easy way. In this book, Alice wonders if she will "go all the way" with her boyfriend Patrick when she goes to visit him at university; she and her friends help out at a soup kitchen; deal with some bullies at a party; and experience a surprising death in their group of friends.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sober ending to the book. What a sad surprise. Mark really was becoming so much better now that he was friends more with Keeno than Brian. I really did not expect him to die like that - another important life lesson taught by Alice and her friends. I feel so incredibly bad for Mark's parents, who were so generous and cared so much about their only child. Life can be unpredictable and inexplicable sometimes - a lot of the time. I wonder if Mark's death will sober Bryan up and push him into making better life choices. It better. The beginning of the book was more light-hearted and I love seeing Alice visit Patrick at college. Her feelings of desire were well-written and I was cheering for them. They showed each other their feelings but they also stayed smart enough. I also love to reading about Alice and her friends house-sitting for Lester and his roommates while they were hiking. Old Mr. Watts is very entertaining and so were those two women who contacted Lester.
The good thing is that Molly is finally free of cancer - remission, yay - no guarantees but that is great news!
Wow Alice is really growing up.

[Ashley Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this book was a 3 star but the way some emotional things were handled at the end was good enough for a bump.
This series is definitely starting to deal with some more adult themes!
I have been reading this series since I was in sixth grade and I don’t care what you think about me being 26 and still bound and determined to finish. Only 4 more to go!

[Melody Loomis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll warn you…something happens at the end of this book that is shocking and very sad. This book had me in tears. But before the sad thing happens, we get to see Alice and Patrick in Chicago together, and that was a lot of fun. It really keeps you wondering what will happen between them next. Will they get closer, or will the distance make it harder?

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't actually read the whole book. This came as part of a "banned books" package from Humble Bundle. I read a few chapters and found it both lacking in background and boring. I couldn't find anything worth continuing - I don't know why it was banned exactly but I couldn't see anything controversial.

[Kathrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this installment but as with all the later installments, it fell a bit flat for me. It seemed like the death in this installment seemed very constructed and in retrospect, I can see the build-up for it in the previous installments.

[Chandni · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, this book took a REAL dark turn at the end. Didn't see it coming at all.

[Grace Messi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Micaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[emma ୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how the Alice series speak to me 💓

[JH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the Alice books, but specifically the ones as she gets older. This one was the summer before senior year. There was a theme of religion and conversations about God.

[Knobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice's summer between junior and senior year of high school is looking pretty dull, so she livens it up a little. She visits Chicago for her cousin's wedding and spends time with Patrick, who is a student at the university. Alice and friends help out at a soup kitchen. They also deal with some tragedy.

Book takes place: Summer before senior year.
Alice's life lessons: You don't have to have all the answers now.
Best Alice moment(s): Alice and Patrick on the bench (duh!!); The Naked Nomads; Alice's seatmate on her plane to Chicago and the way she dealt with him; the Incident

Alice thinks the summer will be boring, and she wants to make this last year before senior year count. She is called up to be a replacement bridesmaid at her cousin Carol's wedding, and flies out before her family. Some asshole on the plane decides that she's an easy mark and tries to feel her up; she screams at him and he slinks away, embarrassed.

In this book Alice FINALLY gets some. She and Patrick rekindle their romance while she visits at University of Chicago, and they feel each other up on a park bench. And it's beautiful. It's sort of public but it's still intimate, they're cheesy but they're in love, whatever! And it's nice that PRN doesn't shy away from girls getting fingered or guys messily ejaculating. Real life isn't all neat, y'know.

Alice volunteers at a soup kitchen with her friends and a girl there tries to save everyone's souls. Alice wonders about her religious beliefs (she seems more like an agnostic than anything, and always has). She has to confront these beliefs (or lack thereof) when one of her friends since elementary school, Mark Stedmeister, of the every-summer-pool-hangout, is unexpectedly killed in a car accident. Alice has dealt with grief before, but was too young to properly grieve for her mother, lost a mother figure in Mrs. Plotkin, and understood old-age death with the passing of her grandfather, but this -- a healthy peer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- this is new and unfamiliar. Her grieving process is so realistic that it was scary. She and her friends voice the thoughts that trouble us: You can make plans all you want, but sometimes it won't matter...

On the plus side, Molly has pulled through chemo and is in remission. She's planning to go to college and Alice is happy about the prospect of new beginnings.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok this one has Cemetery Tag, visiting Patrick in Chicago, house-sitting for Les, a born-again Christian, a soup kitchen, the Naked Carpenters, and the big D. What a formula: these can't be terribly difficult for Naylor to write, and they're engaging to read, and they're popular for good reasons. I still wish they were avl. to boys, though... maybe some brave souls are reading them in e-book format.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first started reading the Alice series in 4th or 5th grade. I have grown up with these books and have loved each and every one of them. Intensely Alice starts off with Alice and her friends just wanting to do something for the summer. She sees that her family have already made plans for themselves and decides that she is going to go to Chicago and visit her boyfriend Patrick at his college dorm. Meanwhile, the gang meets up at Mark Stedmeister's pool, like they've done every year, since middle school. One of the first things I've noticed about this book, was the character interaction and I got to know the characters better.

Alice gets a called from her cousin Carol and is asked to be a bridesmaid at her wedding -in Chicago- after one of the original bridesmaid pregnancy takes toll. Alice still doesn't know where she'll be sleeping when she visits Patrick, so she packs "things" she might need for the visit. In Chicago, her cousin takes her and the other bridesmaid to a fun bachelorette party and prepare for the wedding. This part of the book brought back memories from the other books and I remembered all the things Alice and her older cousin have shared over the years and how Alice looked up to her for advice, since her own mother was dead. The wedding turned out to be great and Alice is finally able to go see her boyfriend Patrick at the university.

Alice and Patrick remain to be my favorite couple in the series and I absolutely loved the parts of them in this book. I don't want to give away any spoilers but their relationship grows a lot more in this book. Once Alice gets back home, her and her friends volunteer at a soup kitchen. Now, one thing I didn't expect to read in this book was about religion and spirituality. After volunteering at the soup kitchen, she contemplates a lot about her faith and is her faith in God is tested in a huge way after a death. The death took me by surprise, it had me in tears. I thought this book was really good and the ending was phenomenal.

[Mary Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book because it had been banned. When I initially looked at the list of banned books I could not believe how many books I had read that were "banned." For instance, I had no idea To Kill a Mockingbird was a banned book. I believe this book was banned because it discussed, sex, religion, and teen pregnancy. It also discussed alcohol even though the main characters never drank. I think the book was also banned because I saw that it said Ages 14^ I personally would not want my 14 year old reading about sex, pregnancy, and drinking. Although now a days I'm not sure that would matter much.

The story was about a girl named Alice and her group of friends and their fun over spring break. One of her friends the previous spring had gotten pregnant and subsequently had an abortion. The book also delves into Alice's family her father, step-mom, and 24 year old brother. (Alice is 16.) Alice's mother had died from cancer early in her life and Alice did not really have too many memories of her. Alice is also dating a boy named Patrick who was a year above her and is attending summer classes in Chicago. (Alice lives in Maryland) Alice's cousin who lives in Chicago gets married in the book and Alice is looking forward to meeting up with her boyfriend Patrick. She wants to have sex with him but they just hook up much to Alice's disappointment. At the very end of the book one of the groups best friends Mark gets into a car accident and dies. Everyone is very upset and cannot understand why one of their friends could be killed so easily. He had been rear ended by a truck and smashed into the front of an SUV while waiting to turn left. I think this book teaches teens a lot about life and anything can happen at anytime like Mark's death. Again I would not recommend this for school reading but for a casual book to read.

This was the book I chose for my banned book.

[Samantha Tai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 21st book in the Alice series. It's been a while since I've read any of the books in the series and the last book (I think) came out in June so I wanted to catch up and finish the series.

I often don't read the inside jacket of the cover of a book because sometimes it gives too much of the story away. This is one of the times I wish I hadn't read the blurb. Something big and bad was going to happen and I wish I hadn't known this. I was expecting it the entire book, I had an idea of what it might be and I had to wait until the end to find out. If I hadn't read the blurb, I would have been more surprised.

It's the summer before her senior year of college. Alice is going to be a bridesmaid in her cousin Carol's wedding. While in Chicago, she gets to visit Patrick who is taking summer classes at the University of Chicago. Alice doesn't know what to expect from her overnight stay with Patrick-will they have sex? Her stay is too short and before she knows it she's back home in Silver Spring, VA trying to find ways to spend the rest of her summer. I liked how the book ended and I'm looking forward to reading Alice in Charge, which takes place during the first part of Alice's senior year. I'm interested in seeing what happens next.

Due to some mature subject matter (pre-marital sex), I'd recommend this to older readers. I do think Phyllis Reynolds Naylor deals with these subjects in a realistic manner. Girls who have grown up with Alice will anticipate reading the rest of the series.

[Rhonda D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phylis Reynolds Naylor has been writing about Alice since 1988 when I was in junior high and I have been keeping up with her ever since. Alice has come a long way since 5th grade; in Intensely Alice (24th edition), we see her during the summer between her junior and senior years of high school. In a busy summer, she is a bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding (complete with bachelorette party). She visits her boyfriend at his new university. The whole gang volunteers at a homeless feeding kitchen. Her brother asks her to house-sit for a week with her friends. She continues her summer job and looks forward to being an editor of the school newspaper in the fall. A tragedy ends her summer and causes her to contemplate questions of God and faith.

I like following Alice. This edition felt, even with the tragedy, felt a little sparse for material (maybe somewhat like how summers feel for teens). While some events were given in too much detail (trip to visit Patrick and some of the interactions with friends), I would have liked more detail on the tragic events at the end and how Alice learned to deal with them. The idea of "the problem of suffering" was glossed over with no real depth (the religious characters all sounded silly). Overall a fun read.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I started reading the Alice books about ten years ago and I've really enjoyed them (I think my favorite is Alice In-Between, where they go to Chicago) and I even got my sister to read them (she likes Alice in Lace due to the abundance of Patrick and Alice). I was younger than Alice but now am quite bit older (it's the summer before her senior year in high school in this book).

So I was very excited to read the next installment but this one unfortunately left me feeling...meh. I don't think that's a word but that's how I felt. It wasn't a difficult read and I did want to know what was going on for Alice but there was nothing exactly exciting.

First is Carol's wedding and Alice getting to be with Patrick. I really like Carol and I've always been a fan of Alice/Patrick so I liked these scenes. Then there is the summer hanging out with Liz, Pamela, and Gwen. And in the end, one of her friends dies. This was sad but it didn't have that much of an impact on me.

Overall: I would call this just average and I may have lifted the grade a bit higher than I really felt due to my fondness for the characters. I will probably still continue to read the Alice books but I really hope they improve.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the summer after junior year and Alice is contemplating taking things to the next level with Patrick. When she travels to Chicago for her cousin Carol's wedding she makes arrangements to stay with Patrick in the dorms and prepares for what could be their first night together.

While they do end up exploring one another in a sexual way, they do not take the full on plunge into a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, during a week spent volunteering with her friends in a soup kitchen Alice and the other teens discuss religion. The views represented are wide-ranging and the questions that are posed make for thoughtful debate and good topics for mulling over on the back burner.

A tragic loss of one of Alice's dear friends catches the group by surprise and they carefully work through the stages of grieving as they prepare to start school as seniors.

This book in the series has a lot going on. The first third of the book is dominated by Alice's thoughts regarding sex with Patrick. Near the middle of the book, the focus moves to religion with the last section of the story challenging everyone's beliefs as they struggle to cope with the death of a friend.

Recommended for teen girls grades 9 and up.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

October 2023 reread
I enjoyed the girls’ stint housesitting and cried through the last three chapters.

November 2020 reread
I remember reading this when it was released, and knowing from the synopsis that a major character was gong to die. Once the story gets going, and a supporting character who has always been in the background suddenly starts to develop as a character, you know who won't make it. That being said, I still teared up on my reread. The religious discussions at the soup kitchen feel out of character and tacked on. I guess it's supposed to be a lead up to the character death, but it just feels odd and drawn out - it didn't need to take up the two or three chapters it did. Alice's high school years aren't as memorable as her middle school years, but I still enjoy the visits with the McKinley's on each re-read.

February 2018 reread
I took three Alice books on vacation this year and read through them quickly. I still love these stories, though the tone changed a bit when she left middle school for high school. Still, love the embarrassing moments she hasn't quite grown out of and love the back-n-forth between Alice and Lester.