The Agony of Alice

The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

As I read The Agony of Alice, being 12 and 13 came rushing back to me -- the acute embarrassment of the slightest social mishap, the conviction that minor slights meant the end of friendship, the drama produced by every situation. Ms. Naylor writes about this age so convincingly, I felt as if I was back there, at Park Forest Elementary, feeling the exactly same way as Alice (How did I miss this book anyway?  I was 12 in 1985, the year of its publication). The Agony of Alice  portrays so perfectly that age at which girls are no longer children and not yet teenagers.  Uncertainty and insecurity are the predominant feelings of that age, ironically coupled with the feeling that no one ever must know that you are anything but perfect.

The growth of the character Alice through the book is represented by her relationship with her teacher, Mrs. Plotkin.  Completely disappointed that she got frumpy, middle aged Mrs. Plotkin instead of young & pretty Miss Cole, Alice is convinced that her sixth grade year will be disastrous.  Alice's mother died when she was 4 and she thinks that she needs Miss Cole to act as her surrogate mother.  However, she gets to know Mrs. Plotkin through after school activities, she sees past the surface of both her and Miss Cole to come to realize that Mrs. Plotkin is a special person who becomes her friend.  Mrs. Plotkin has very good insight into girls at that age.  After Alice attempts to sabotage the performance of a rival in the class pageant, Mrs. Plotkin says to her, "It seems that you are angry at Pamela for wanting the very things that you want.  Its not so horrible to want to be special Alice."  She takes on the role of Alice's surrogate mother as Alice navigates the tricky waters of early adolescence.

As a side note, this is a fun book for local readers, as it references areas of suburban D.C. 

This would be a wonderful book for 5th through 7th grade girls who will surely see themselves in Alice.