Alice (novel series)

Last updated

The Alice series is a young adult book series written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, consisting of 25 books and three prequels, and it has been frequently challenged, as documented in the American Library Association's lists of the 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 2019. The main character is Alice McKinley, and the Alice series covers her development through adolescence and puberty to the final book, Now I'll Tell You Everything, where Alice turns 60 years old. Through intimate relationships, jobs, disastrous accidents, and accidental parental meetings, the journey from a child into a grown woman is narrated in the Alice series. [1] Important and notable characters are Alice's three best friends, Pamela, Gwen, Elizabeth; her first love, Patrick; her aunt, Sally; her brother, Lester; and her father. Dating, sex, friendship, familial matters, religion, and homosexuality are some of the controversial themes that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor uses to narrate the life story of Alice McKinley.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Background

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in 1933 in Anderson, Indiana. [2] Naylor has written over 125 adult and young-adult novels, 28 of them in the Alice novel series. [2] Naylor was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1984 by the Mystery Writers of America for Night Cry. [3] In 1992, Naylor won the Newbery Medal for Shiloh. [4]

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was raised by both her parents, Eugene and Lura Reynolds, who fostered a conservative and religious upbringing. [3] As a teenager, Naylor wrote for her Church paper and certain school celebrations. [3] Naylor later attended and graduated from Joliet Junior College in 1953. [3] During her first marriage, Naylor worked for the Board of Education's philosophy office in Rockville, Maryland, and for the Montgomery County Education Association. [3] After her divorce, Naylor achieved a B.A. in psychology from American University in 1963. [3] Naylor considered a Ph.D. in the psychology field, but redirected her career path since she was more interested in becoming a professional writer. [3]

The foundation for the Alice series, The Agony of Alice, was originally planned as a novel with no intentions for it to be developed into a series. [5] In an interview with Elizabeth Devereaux in 2002, Naylor said: "I just wanted to write about a motherless girl looking for a role model who finds it not in the most beautiful teacher at school, the one she had hoped to get, but in the homeliest". [5] Then, as she explains in the interview, Naylor started reflecting on her own personal moments, which became an inspiration for a series of books based on the original Alice character. [5]

The Alice series

The Alice prequels

Characters

Reception

Analysis

The Alice novel series, which includes 28 books, has 2.5 million copies in circulation. [5] Naylor's ability to narrate Alice McKinley's life as she ages across 28 books is highlighted by Edie Ching, an instructor who specializes in children's literature at the University of Maryland, who remarks: "The fact that Phyllis could write a series in which her main character went from childhood to adulthood over time — and in each book was fully realized at that particular stage of her life — shows her depth and talent as a writer". [8]

In 2003, the Alice novel series, according to the Baltimore Sun, was the most controversial novel series because of the illicit sexual content. [9] The American Library Association's list from 2000 to 2009 states that the books in the Alice series were the second most frequently banned books in the decade, following the Harry Potter series. [1] The series covers many controversial topics that are included in young-adult literature like masturbation, menstruation, and the evolution both physically and mentally of the main character. [8] In The Grooming of Alice, Alice inspects her genitalia in a manner common to teaching the audience, most often a child, about sex. [10] In the fourth book in the series, All But Alice, Alice, Lester, and her father converse about a song called "My Necrophiliac Lover"; school libraries in a Minnesota district banned the book. [1] In Webb City, Missouri, multiple Alice books were removed from the shelves of school libraries in 2002 due to the use of homosexuality in the narrative. [1]

Awards

The Alice series has received the following accolades:

Controversy

The Alice series has been the center of much controversy:

Related Research Articles

<i>Malory Towers</i> Series of novels by childrens author Enid Blyton

Malory Towers is a series of six novels by English children's author Enid Blyton. The series is based on a girls' boarding school that Blyton's daughter attended, Benenden School, which relocated during World War II to the Hotel Bristol in Newquay, Cornwall. The series follows the protagonist, Darrell Rivers, on her adventures and experiences in boarding school. Darrell Rivers' name was inspired by that of Blyton's second husband, Kenneth Darrell Waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre</span> Acting school in New York City

The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of the Meisner technique of acting, named for American actor and acting teacher Sanford Meisner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Bowen</span> Irish writer (1899-1973)

Elizabeth Bowen CBE was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well as her fiction about life in wartime London.

Sweet Valley High is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who live in the fictional Sweet Valley, California, a suburb near Los Angeles. The twins and their friends attend Sweet Valley High.

<i>Shiloh</i> (Naylor novel) Naylor novel

Shiloh is a Newbery Medal-winning children's novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor published in 1991. The 65th book by Naylor, it is the first in a quartet about a young boy and the title character, an abused dog. Naylor decided to write Shiloh after an emotionally taxing experience in West Virginia where she encountered an abused dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Blane</span> American actress (1910–1997)

Sally Blane was an American actress who appeared in more than 100 movies.

<i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> 1998 novel by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 1999 young adult novel by American author Stephen Chbosky. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, an introverted and observant teenager, through his freshman year of high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. The novel details Charlie's unconventional style of thinking as he navigates between the worlds of adolescence and adulthood, and attempts to deal with poignant questions spurred by his interactions with both his friends and family.

Sally Forth is a daily comic strip created by Greg Howard in 1982 and distributed by King Features Syndicate, focusing on the life of a white American middle-class mother at home and work. Sally's name is a play on words: "to sally forth" means to set out on an adventure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Reynolds Naylor</span> American writer (born 1933)

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is an American writer best known for children's and young adult fiction. Naylor is best known for her children's-novel quartet Shiloh and for her "Alice" book series, one of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade.

<i>Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself</i> 1977 young adult novel by Judy Blume

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself is a 1977 young adult novel by Judy Blume. It is set in 1947 and follows the imaginative 10-year-old Sally, who likes to make up stories in her head, her family moves from New Jersey to Miami Beach. While not as controversial as some of her other novels, Blume does manage to address the following themes of late 1940s life in America: racism, anti-Semitism and sibling rivalry. This novel is her most autobiographical, with many parallels between Blume's own life and that of Sally. Blume has said, "Sally is the kind of kid I was at ten."

The Saddle Club is a series of intermediate children's books published by Bantam Books between 1988 and 2001. The series was created by a publishing house using the contract writing services of self-professed equestrian novice Bonnie Bryant. Many titles were also written by ghostwriters. Spin-offs include four other book series: The Saddle Club Super Editions, The Saddle Club Inside Stories, Pony Tails, and Pine Hollow. The books were adapted into a TV show also called The Saddle Club. In the 1990s, there was also a fan club with a monthly newsletter and a line of model horses manufactured by Breyer.

The Witch Saga is a 6-part fantasy novel series by author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. The books deal with supernatural forces, specifically witchcraft. Witch's Sister, the first book in the series, was adapted into an episode of the television series, Big Blue Marble.

Hello! Lady Lynn is the second season of the anime series, Lady Lady!!, produced by Toei Animation Co., Ltd. It consists of a total of 36 episodes and was aired on Thursdays from May 12, 1988 to January 26, 1989 on TV Tokyo. Based on the Japanese shōjo manga Lady!!, by Youko Hanabusa.

<i>Alice Upside Down</i> 2007 American film

Alice Upside Down is a 2007 comedy-drama film, based on the Alice series written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. The film was shot at Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Screened in limited cinema in 2007, it was released wide straight-to-DVD on July 29, 2008. In North America, it aired on Starz Kids & Family, but in the early years, it was on demand. The film centers on Alice, an 11-year-old girl starting the sixth grade at a new school. It starred Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Bridgit Mendler, Luke Perry, Penny Marshall, and Ashley Eckstein.

Sweet Valley Twins was the first spin-off to originate from Sweet Valley High, and was created by Francine Pascal and written by Jamie Suzanne. Published by Bantam Books on 1 July 1986, the series starts with the twins wanting to differ from each other. They begin to dress differently; Elizabeth moves into her own room and starts up a sixth-grade newspaper; and Jessica starts wearing make-up and becomes a member of the Unicorn Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Jackson</span> Fictional character in books by Rick Riordan

Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character, the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He is also one of seven main protagonists of the sequel series The Heroes of Olympus, appearing in every book except The Lost Hero, and appears in the Trials of Apollo series, making him one of the few characters to appear in all three series of the Camp Half-Blood chronicles. He has also been a narrator and protagonist in Riordan's Greco-Roman/Egyptian crossover stories, part of the Demigods and Magicians collection. The character serves as the narrator in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, also by Rick Riordan.

<i>Winter</i> (Marsden novel) 2000 novel by John Marsden

Winter is a young adult novel by John Marsden in 2000. Winter, the protagonist of the story, returns to the family estate which she left at the age of four when her parents died. She finds that everything is not as it seems when she visits her parents' graves, and she is determined to uncover the answers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 O’Brien, Rebecca Davis (October 16, 2013). "Growing Up with Alice". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Phyllis Reynolds Naylor". Britannica Kids. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 1933– | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  4. ""Newbery Medal". The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English, edited by Victor Watson, Cambridge University Press, 1st edition, 2001. Credo Reference" . Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lodge, Sally. "Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Bids Goodbye to Alice". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  6. "Dangerously Alice". Plugged In (publication) . Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  7. Sarah, Admin (August 16, 2016). "Almost Alice By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor". More Than a Review. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Hesse, Monica (October 13, 2013). "Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Oracle for Teenagehood, Says Goodbye to 'Alice'". The Washington Post.
  9. Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds (May 31, 2012). "Many Books Challenged, Banned for Sexual Content". The Baltimore Sun.
  10. "Hager, Kelly. "Body". Keywords for Children's Literature, edited by Philip Nel, and Lissa Paul, New York University Press, 1st edition, 2011". Credo Reference. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  11. "Outrageously Alice | Awards & Grants". www.ala.org. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  12. KRBROWNE (January 13, 2017). "2003 Amelia Bloomer List". Round Tables. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  13. admin (March 26, 2013). "100 most frequently challenged books: 1990-1999". Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  14. admin (March 26, 2013). "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009". Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  15. KPEKOLL (September 9, 2020). "Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019". Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  16. admin (March 26, 2013). "Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists". Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. Retrieved June 12, 2021.