Alice in April : #5 ALICE BOOKS

In Alice in April , Aunt Sally reminds Alice that she will be turning thirteen soon (like anyone could forget such a momentous occasion) and that she will be the "woman of the house." Alice dives into her new role by planning her father's fiftieth birthday party--and telling everyone in the family to get a physical. But that means Alice herself will have to disrobe at the doctor's! Then there's the latest crisis at school, where the boys have begun to match each girl with the name of a state, according to its geography--mountains or no mountains! As Alice stumbles her way through the minefield of early adolescence in these six new repackages for Summer, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way. Formats : EPUB ISBN : 9781439132241

April is the cruelest month, said the poet, and Alice McKinley would agree. April is a hard month. Not that she doesn't have some fun. It does begin with a wonderful April Fool's Day joke on her brother, Lester. But it also begins with Aunt Sally reminding her that she will soon be thirteen (as if anyone could forget something so important) and then she will be Woman of the House, since her mother is long dead. It is an awesome responsibility. All her life she had assumed that her father and Lester were there to take care of her; now she is going to have to take care of them. Taking care of Lester, alone, could be a full-time job, she thinks. Being Woman of the House has all sorts of drawbacks. For example: It never occurred to her that when she suggested her father and Lester ought to have physical checkups, her father would insist that she have one too. How could you let a doctor see you naked?

Of course, Alice is still in school. And there she faces another crisis. She might be Woman of the House at home, but in school she needs a different kind of name, one given by a table full of boys in the cafeteria Depending on their figures, girls are being given state names — some states have mountains and others do not. Will flat, flat Delaware or Louisiana be her fate? Alice lives in fear that it might be, though even worse is the fear that she might not get a name at all.

The month ends with a dinner party for her father's birthday (part of being Woman of the House) that has more downs than ups — and with a totally unexpected event that makes Alice and everyone she knows grow up a little and wonder a little deeper about life and the future. April is a hard month, but reading about Alice in April is to find that most tragedies (though not all) pass and tears can turn to laughter and delight.

Publishers Weekly

Naylor plunges her forthright and unusually winning series heroine ( All but Alice ) into the middle of seventh grade, when the responsibilities that go with turning 13 loom just ahead. As Alice struggles to assume the role of Woman of the House in the motherless home she shares with her older brother and father, the trials of domesticity compete with the anxiety of waiting for the boys in her grade to name her figure after the topography of one of the 50 states (``I knew what would be worse than Delaware: Rhode Island. Not the shape, the size''). With characteristic humor and the support of her old friends, Alice forges ahead, monitoring the romantic mishaps of her father and brother while coping with her own minor disasters. A subplot involves an abused classmate, whose suicide ends the book on a tragic note. The issue is carefully explored, without melodrama, and although it may surprise readers accustomed to jocularity from the Alice books, it is to the author's credit that Alice's development includes some serious problems. Deftly written dialogue and an empathetic tone neatly balance substantial themes with plain good fun. Ages 9-13. (Apr.)

In Alice in April, Aunt Sally reminds Alice that she will be turning thirteen soon (like anyone could forget such a momentous occasion) and that she will be the "woman of the house." Alice dives into her new role by planning her father's fiftieth birthday party--and telling everyone in the family to get a physical. But that means Alice herself will have to disrobe at the doctor's! Then there's the latest crisis at school, where the boys have begun to match each girl with the name of a state, according to its geography: mountains or no mountains! As Alice stumbles her way through the minefield of early adolescence in these six new repackages for Summer, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way While Trying To Survive Seventh Grade, Alice Discovers That Turning Thirteen Will Make Her The Woman Of The House At Home, So She Starts A Campaign To Get More Appreciated For Taking Care Of Her Father And Older Brother.