Alice the Brave

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8?Alice's friends are savoring their last month of vacation before entering eighth grade, spending every afternoon at Mark Stedmeister's pool?all except Alice, who is embarrassed to admit that she's terrified of deep water. Her father continues the romantic relationship he began in Reluctantly Alice (Atheneum, 1991) with her English teacher, Miss Summers. Alice wishes he would propose and supply her with a mother, but interferes and manipulates less than in previous titles about this engaging character; in fact, her longing for a mother is more understated as she begins to show her maturity and look to herself for answers. Her friend Elizabeth emerges from a phase of believing the human body and all its functions to be repulsive, and reads aloud explicit passages from the unexpurgated version of The Arabian Nights. Consumed by guilt about sneaking the book from her parents' bedroom, she seeks help from her priest. Meanwhile, Pamela is fascinated with passion and romance. Alice's problem is resolved when her older brother insists on teaching her how to swim, and she finishes the summer in triumph. The ends are tied up neatly, as usual, with much droll humor, poignant insight, and graceful narrative along the way. Naylor's understanding of adolescents is apparent, as each new situation totally absorbs the girls' attention and energy. The personal growth of the three adolescents keeps this seventh title in the series interesting as well as entertaining.?Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Spring Hill Middle School, KSCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 5^-7. In the latest affectionate comedy about Alice, she spends the summer before eighth grade trying to overcome her secret fear of deep water. She's scared and too scared to say so. She's not sure if she'd rather die of embarrassment or die of drowning. With the lightest touch, Naylor shows that being in "over your head" is also a metaphor for taking chances. As always, Alice and her friends are intensely curious about sex ("mating" ) and about their developing bodies: in a hilarious chapter, they read the exciting bits from the unexpurgated Arabian Nights, and Alice examines the Playboy centerfold. How do you learn to kiss? Alice wonders, how do you practice? In a story that ranges from the mundane (giving her friend a deodorant for smelly armpits) to the mysterious, Alice's wry, funny, vulnerable voice expresses every girl's fears about what is "normal" in an imperfect world. Hazel Rochman


Book Description
WILL ALICE'S SECRET RUIN HER PERFECT SUMMER? It's August, and the whole gang is having a terrific time, hanging out at Mark Stedmeister's swimming pool -- except Alice, who has a secret even from her best friends Pamela and Elizabeth. Alice is deathly afraid of deep water, and just as afraid of what will happen if her secret gets out. When disaster strikes, it's even worse than Alice imagined. How can she face her friends? And how can she face her boyfriend, Patrick, who's coming home from summer vacation and looking forward to joining the eighth grade swim team with Alice?


Card catalog description
The summer before eighth grade, Alice tries to confront her fears, not the least of which is a fear of deep water.


Simon & Schuster
A month before eighth grade begins, Alice realizes she is going to have to face something she's been afraid of forever. Everybody, she knows, is afraid of something: elevators, dogs, planes, spiders . . . but her fear is worse. It's going to bring absolute disaster to the rest of her summer, maybe to the rest of her life. The truth is she's afraid of deep water! It's a hot August, and everyone in Alice's gang goes to Mark Stedmeister's swimming pool almost every day. Alice sits at the shallow end. She plays badminton. She makes excuses, and keeps her problem secret. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Pamela, Alice's two best friends, tackle problems of their own, and are more or less successful. Life is changing for everyone but Alice. Bravery begins in little ways, with small steps. That's what Alice finally discovers. And after she faces this particular fear, she knows she can summon the courage to face other fears as well. As in her previous adventures, Alice tackles some of the big problems of growing up with humor and enterprise and learns once again that a brother, a father, and friends can offer amazing amounts of help.


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Alice the fearful (of the deep end of the pool) transforms into Alice the brave during the summer before she enters the oh-so-cool world of eighth grade. Motherless Alice faces growing-up issues like independence, conformity and sexuality; she also longs to have a mother who can help her through it all. Narrator Christina Moore￯﾿ﾽs almost sulking alto relates marvelously to the somewhat moody nonchalance of young teens. She captures Alice and her friends beautifully, their emotions and different personalities; Moore also does a respectable job with Alice￯﾿ﾽs father, brother and aunt. Her flexible tones rise to laughter and silliness among friends and lower to anxiety and determination to overcome fear. Moore￯﾿ﾽs solid performance paints a clear picture of Alice and the lessons she learns about the importance of family and good friends when problems arise. J.H.B. ￯﾿ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine


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