I'm Alice (I Think)

Alice MacLeod #1

by Susan Juby

The hilarious diary of Alice and her attempts to survive the embarrassments that are her parents, the small-minded nature of her hometown, and her own struggle to fit in. Highly observant, satirical and wise. Fifteen years old and nursing a "serious case of outcastitis," Alice MacLeod is having a hard time finding anything much to like in small town Smithers, British Columbia. Her mum's a folk-festival hippie chick with a hair-trigger temper, her dad's a mild and reasonable sort of loser who hides out in the basement trying to write soft-core romance novels, and her last school counsellor threw a teary fit in the middle of a session and left the profession entirely. She'd love to "get past what my father calls my 'knee-jerk dislike of just about anything,'" but she's not sure that there's anything out there that's worth it. Alice's journal is filled with eye-rolling protests at the embarrassments and stupidities she finds herself surrounded her mother's drumming-circle friends, the therapeutic jargon thrown her way by counsellors and the outstanding inefficacity of her current counsellor, Death Lord Bob. But Alice's sharp bark doesn't do much to conceal her lack of a bite. It's her mum, after all, not Alice, who gets into a fistfight with Linda, the town's teen thug, while Alice sits cringing in the family car. In fact, Alice has a sweet side, which she makes all the more endearing by getting all squirmy and ashamed whenever she reveals it. Alice's fierce ungainliness, and her unwillingness to surrender it to make her life any easier, make her struggles highly appealing.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Canada, Contemporary, Teen, Humor, Realistic Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

(from her website)

I was raised in Smithers, BC, Canada and lived there until I moved to Toronto at age 20. I had a brief and unsuccessful career as a fashion design student and, after I worked at a series of low paying jobs, such as server, record store employee, etc., I began a degree in English Literature at University of Toronto, which I finished at the University of British Columbia. After graduating I became an editor at a self-help/how-to book publishing company based in Vancouver. Later, I did a master’s degree in publishing.

When I was a kid I wrote fiction but gave it up for a life of crime. Okay, that’s not true, but I did get seriously sidetracked. That time in my life is the subject of my memoir, "Nice Recovery". When I was twenty, until I got myself together and when I was about 26 I started writing, in the morning before work, first on the bus, then in a coffee shop. This writing became my first novel, "Alice, I Think", which was published by Thistledown Press in 2000.

When I first started writing my intention was to write a book about a teenager who doesn't fit in, but doesn't allow that fact to crush her. The Alice MacLeod series is my homage to oddballs. I wanted to create a character who has the courage and integrity to find her own way and define herself independently of other people. I've always admired people who can do that.

After finishing three books about Alice and her family, I decided that my goal is to write every kind of book I love to read. I’ve always loved horse books. I was a lunatic for horses when I was younger. I owned several horses over the years (for a time when I was quite young I was convinced I was a horse, but let's keep that between us) and I became obsessed with an equestrian sport called dressage. I quit riding when I left home to go to college, but part of me always thought I could have been a "contender". (In retrospect, I'm not sure why I would have thought that.) Anyway, I got a nice pay day when Alice, I Think was made into a TV series, and the first thing I did was rush out a buy a horse and start working on a book about two young dressage riders. The story was initially about two girls, but soon I fell in love with a secondary character, a boy named Alex, and the book became mainly about him. That one is called "Another Kind of Cowboy".

I’m also a maniac for detective novels, which led to "Getting the Girl", a comedy about an inept detective and a high school conspiracy he is determined to stop. Book number six is my memoir. I developed a bit of a substance abuse problem when I was thirteen and I ended up getting clean and sober when I was twenty. Nice Recovery is about that time. The book includes information for people with addiction problems and interviews with amazing young people in recovery. My love for satire and the End Is Nigh novels led me to write "Bright’s Light", which is that rarest of things: a funny dystopian novel about young dunderheads in the last fun place on earth and the alien who wants to save them.

"Home to Woefield", as it’s known in the U.S. and "The Woefield Poultry Collective" as it’s known in Canada, is a comedy about a young woman from Brooklyn who inherits a derelict farm on Vancouver Island. It’s the first of my novels published specifically for adults, though I’d say at least half the readers of my other books have been adults. I hope all my readers will like it. (It does contain quite a bit of swearing. Just be forewarned!) I’ve always wanted to be self-sustaining and able to grow my own food. All I lack is land and skill. The sequel, "Republic of Dirt", is scheduled to be published January 2015 by HarperCollins.

My next teen novel is called "The Truth Commission". It will be published March 2015 by Penguin Canada and Viking U.S. The story is about a group of teens who attend an art high school who start a truth-telling club with consequences both dire and funny.

In addition to my writing, I teach creative writ

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one point while reading this book, I laughed so hard I actually cried. I had an absolute blast reading this!

Maybe I will write a review at some point. Does anyone even care about fun-silly YA from the year 2000 anymore? From the 3.38 average rating, I would guess not. It seems like there's only a handful of us who still read these silly lighthearted OTT reads, like Dating Disasters of Emma Nash, Confessions of a High School Disaster and, of course, Georgia Nicolson. I love them, can't lie 😂

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

It's a lot like Georgia Nicholson books. Funny.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I grew up in one of those loving families that fail to prepare a person for real life."

Alice is a weirdo homeschooled kid living in a small town Smithers. Sort of on a whim, she decides she wants to go back to "regular" school and accomplish a few other life goals such as getting a decent haircut, having human contact outside her family, being a feminist (and finding out what that entails other than being nice to fellow females) and some sort of boy-girl interaction. Alice's story, told in diary format, is laugh out loud funny, often in a bit of a dry and dark way. I loved this book in high school and can say as an adult it really captures an authentic 15-year-old voice. It definitely holds up to my good memories.

For non-Canadians who may not have heard of this book, which is the first in a series, it is very much on the same vein as Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, albeit with more of a nerdy main character.

It's Juby's debut book so certainly not as polished as her later stuff but damn it is very funny and heartfelt. Juby writes the best lovable weirdos.

[Marina Pavlichenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Всë началось с того, что "Хоббит", любимая книга, испортила детство маленькой девочки Алисы. Еë родители-полухиппи одобрили идею пойти в 1й класс начальной школы в тематическом костюме, чего не одобрили одноклассники и Алисе пришлось перейти на домашнее обучение. Спустя 10 лет она решила попробовать вернуться в обычную школу, завести друзей, научиться водить машину и прочие обычные вещи. Да, и прочитать "Властелина колец"))

Действие происходит в маленьком канадском городке, у Алисы любящая, хоть и очень странная семья, она с качественным сарказмом воспринимает свою жизнь и мир взрослых (книги плохому не научат)). Но, несмотря на зашкаливающий из-за Канады уровень мимими, это прямо предупреждение для родителей, что социализация для детей важна не меньше, чем индивидуальность. Одно другому не мешает и надо комбинировать.

P.S. книга смешная и, как оказалось, очень популярная в англоговорящих странах. Есть продолжение, но я ограничусь только этой.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up because it's a debut novel I know how good Susan Juby's writing is now

Alice is a character; funny, eccentric, socially introverted and a true 15 year old. Her parents are still hippies, her brother is the only one in the entire family who has it together, and she lives in the small town of Smithers, BC (but it's bigger than Houston, BC). After being pulled out of public school at a very young age when the kids at school couldn't understand why she dressed as a hobbit and bullied her, she has been homeschooled ever since. However, even that didn't work out socially, since she didn't fit into that group either. However, in order to make her new counsellor feel successful about himself (he's clearly insecure), she agrees to go back to school and is sent to an alternative school where, lo and behold, that same bully who threw rocks at her is there.

This book is witty and has many good things going for it, but it's a debut novel. Having read Susan's Juby's two adult novels, I have to say that her writing is better now and suits adult novels. Still, I've started the second book in this trilogy and it already shows that her writing was improving by the second time around.

[LauraW · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, first off, I have to say that I am abandoning this book. It is funny and off the wall, but for me, that doesn't last long enough to get me through the book. The voice of the MC is clear. She puts down just about everything; she is bizarre, just for the sake of being bizarre. But I need more than that. Normally, when I find that I am getting annoyed with a book that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere, I look ahead and see if I can find something that will hook me in again. But, by sampling pages here and there, I didn't find any change in the MC. She is still sarcastic and bizarre. Maybe there is some growth there; I am not going to stick around to find it.

Interestingly, though, I can think of 3 former students of mine who I think would LOVE the MC. So, don't be put off by this review. There are some people who love this book; I am just not one of them.

[Megan Mc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself with mixed feeling about Alice upon the completion of her story. While I did find the book humorous, and even laugh-out-loud funny at times, I felt unsatisfied at the end. I was waiting for the opinionated, outspoken Alice of her diary to push through to the real world and she never did. In addition, I felt the happenings with Goose boy at the end where haphazard, and not enjoyable, leaving me with a sour feeling about the book. Basically I thought the book would pull itself together for a strong ending that would quell my doubts but instead left me even more disappointed then I thought I would be.

[Katja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Just the right thing to read in isolation, it cheered me up to no end. Thank you, Susan Juby! Already ordered part two.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice, I Think is a quirky story about a quirky fifteen-year-old girl called Alice MacLeod, who records her day in her journal in her original style. It's hard to describe Alice and do her justice, but let me try. Starting school in grade 1 dressed as a hobbit pretty much formed her life: after being bullied and teased and then hit in the head with a rock, she's home schooled by her ex-hippie parents. She has a therapist, a government-sponsored one (this is no tale about a spoiled rich brat) who has a breakdown which Alice really doesn't think could be blamed on her, and her new therapist, Bob, just wouldn't be able to cope without her. He's encouraged her to create a list of Life Goals, and she goes about fulfilling them in a kind of accidental way. She's also trying to read The Lord of the Rings, but only manages five pages in a week. She's someone who has learned mature concepts without actually understanding them, and likes to think she's worldly than she really is. "Maladjusted", is how she describes herself: she knows full well her head's not screwed on completely right, but that's about as far as her self-attunement goes.

That Alice sees the world around her in her own way, with a mix of innocence, irony, misguided insights and some rather odd expectations, gives her one of the more unique voices I've come across in YA fiction. Alice reveals a lot without realising it, and she's what you'd call an unreliable narrator, though because the book is cleverly written you get a very clear idea of what's really going on.

It's a funny satire, not to be taken seriously, but amongst the irony is a girl who is trying to find the courage to experience life, and as such she's familiar and oddly reassuring.

[Claire - The Coffeeholic Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Admittedly at first, I thought I would enjoy reading the main character - Alice’s -rants and criticisms and list of "Life Goals". I thought she was eccentric, different. But I digress. She turned out to be this bizarre and antagonizing girl until the end of the story – wait, what story? Yes, I finally realized there is NO Story at all.

The premise about going to school in a Hobbit-like costume and being taunted by your new classmates was quite an opening. But that's just about it. I thought this was a coming-of-age kind of story. In the end, I didn't feel there was much of a point. At least, there were parts where Alice proved to be quite funny and engaging though.

P.S.
Somehow I thought I'd give this book a chance, since it was mentioned that this is a book Meg Cabot (of Princess Diaries) wished she had written. Oh well, I firmly believe Meg should stick to her Princess Diaries books.

[Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was just too weird. i understand that it was meant to be funny, but all the characters were totally crazy and exaggerated. the amount of dysfuntion in this girls family is almost unbelievable. i did find a few parts to be pretty funny, but i didn't see any point to this book. the main character completely frustrated me.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

Coulden't finish it because it was so pathetic!!!!

[Kjerstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. Mindblowingly. Funny.

Maybe I just loved this book so much because, like Alice, I was a homeschooled kid who attended weird conventions with other homeschooled kids who all had bizarre obsessions, college vocabularies, and hippie anarchist parents. I can relate to the protag's sarcastic observations about her world and the people who populate it, and this book left me helpless with the giggles and reading aloud long passages of it to family and friends. It is so spot-on true, and so cynical, and so absolutely delightful. Not for everyone -- you have to have an appreciation for the strange to get this book -- but if you've ever been around homeschool culture or just like heavy doses of quirk, pick this one up.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reread and it's still great! After I finished it my dad picked it up and he thought it was hilarious. Now that's the sign of a good YA novel.

[Kaeli Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the funniest YA books I’ve ever read but it’s also one of the realest.

[Zia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've rated a book one star at all this year. This was awful. Truly awful. The only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to know how this train wreck ends. And it couldn't even a deliver a satisfying end!

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a childhood favourite of mine so it gets 5 stars for nostalgia and 3 stars for still being somewhat influential on my life more than a decade later. Average that out, and you still get a weird, laugh-out-loud, 4-star contemporary that holds a special place in my heart.

[Kiran]

This book needs therapy and a plot

[Jacqueline Langille · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the reviews that said complimentary things about this book: I agree. Recommended! Two thumbs up!

[Kaylen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing style for me, and the conversations and events of the book seemed superficial. Nothing really was simple, everything had to be over-dramatic.

[Bubbly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a joke. It was over-the-top ridiculous, poorly written, and with one of the most annoying narrators ever. I highly doubt that first graders, not including child prodigies (which Alice was definitely NOT), would be able to read The Hobbit.. at what? The age of six or seven?? What was even more ridiculous was the fact that the supposed bullying first-grader, Linda, was able to somehow develop "a gang" of malicious kindergarteners to throw rocks at the narrator. That is absurd, and the dialogue was horrid. As a result of this ridiculous scene, Alice is home-schooled and sent to therapy sessions. Later, she views with glee that she the "not the most messed up" at her therapy sessions for troubled teens... what a brat. -__- I can't believe this junk got published.

[aaaaaaaaaaaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this. When I was 13 or so I did, and my mother did, but when I reread the series (or at least, the first three) in high school, I struggled to finish, constantly thinking 'there WAS a reason I read it in the first place' and struggling with my obsession with finishing books. They are a nice, easy read, for if you don't want to think too much, and Susan Juby seems like a nice woman- she lives/lived near where I grew up for a while. The problem is Alice. She is simply infuriating. At first it's endearing, but her 'I'm special and better than anyone' and 'look how unique I am!' aren't even on the normal semi-annoying young teen scale, but on the horrid self-diagnose-mental-disorder-to-look-special scale that one or two kids in a high school might do. She is foolish beyond common sense, and painful to read about.

[Jenny]

I don't abandon books very often, but I've read half of this and just have no desire to continue. I find Alice annoying and I really can't relate to her. As a kindergartner, Alice went to school dressed as a Hobbit and seemed to believe she really was a Hobbit. Not surprisingly, kids laughed at her. So her mom pulls her out of school and "homeschools" her (although there isn't much teaching going on...she's mostly left to her own devices.) Now she's about to go back to school...and not surprisingly, she is nervous. So she makes some life goals. Except that her attempts to reach these goals are pathetic and she's annoying. I don't relate to her or to her family and I have 3 other books calling my name. So I'm moving on. I can imagine that for many middle schoolers, esp. those who don't feel like they fit in, this might be a great book.

[Rachael Thiessen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice i think is about a girl named Alice who seems wierd at first exspecially since she herself thinks that she has probelms. She doesn't understand life it seems. Things that usually make a person sad or worried she seems to enjoy. For example when her parents argue it doesn't upset her. Also her role model is a her cousin who is adicted to drugs and thats just the start of her cousins problems. Alice, I Think has some funny parts in it but it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. I also didn't like the ending it didn't seem complete. I think you should read it though because it has a different view on some things and makes you stop and think. Over all I liked Alice, I Think.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very funny book. Alice has been traumatized by her hippie/homeschooled upbringing, but remains objective and believes the future may be better. She has a younger brother who is smart and normal and fits in, but she is ever the outsider as she negotiates all the obstacles every adolescent faces while growing up. Her comments on life and culture are hilarious and not restricted to others. Alice has a checklist of "life goals" that she works at and sees her visits to her counselor as a way to boost his self esteem.
The reader of the playaway version does a terrific job with pacing and inflection and Alice is never boring.

[Sunny Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book because I loved the sound of the synopsis. This was going to be good! But after the first few chapters I was so irritated that it was hard to go on. I felt like the author was just showcasing how clever she could be, with too much emphasis on being witty, and not enough on actually crafting a good story. I didn't really end up caring about Alice in the end, one way or the other.

[Stella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somone this week reminded of this book when she picked this book for her grade 9 English assignment. This brings back bad memories because I also read this for the grade 9 assignment. Blah!

The plot was boring and essentially had no plot. It described the life of Alice and how she did this and went there and met who and blah blah blah. I had a hard time coming up with anything to write about for my English report.

WARNING: DO NOT CHOOSE THIS BOOK FOR AN ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT. IT SUCKS.

[Meggsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, is just simply amazing. I really enjoyed reading it because the author has a way to make someone, who is the complete opposite of this girl, feel just like her. She really has a way of letting someone know that no matter how weird their parents are, there is sone who has funnier, weirder parents. I laughed a lot at this book, I certainky recommend it.

[Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. When I read it I became one of those people who bursts into fits of laughter in an otherwise silent crowd.

Alice's diary is more captivating than Adrian Mole's or Bridget Jones's. She quickly became my favourite self-involved outcast in literature, and Susan Juby my favourite local writer.

This is a series adored by teens and adults alike.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure why I picked this book up. I saw it in the front of the library and only once I got home did I realize it was a young adult book. I decided to go ahead and read it anyways.

It was alright, but nothing amazing. It seemed pretty straight forward and I thought the ending was awful. It just sort of...ended. Kind of weird.