Alice on the Outside
Naylor, P.R.
1999
New York: Simon & Schuster
Age Range: 11 - 14
Genre: Controversial Books, Realistic Fiction
Rating: 3/5



Alice: almost 14, blunt, motherless, inquisitive, creative, and feeling a little outside of her life as she knows it. While the rest of the grade eights are worrying about what dress to wear at the prom, Alice is asking the real questions: what's it really like to have sex? Why won't her brother hold a steady girl? Will her dad win her teacher's love? What's it like to be gay? Is there prejudice in her school? Should she dump her boyfriend for the school photographer? You know, the usual!

Reading a little like a progressive sex-ed text over-layed with a predictable plot, Alice on the Outside isn't exactly earth-shattering. But it's not terrible, either. Although deemed controversial for direct language dealing with sexuality, the only controversial aspects I experienced were accidental: use of "a gay," for instance, when talking about a guy in Alice's brother's university. Eeep. The more standard controversy material was just fine. A little dry, perhaps, but offering perfectly OK information to questioning teenagers. I did feel that the emphasis on Catholicism was a tad extreme. Sister Madeline tells girls to keep their feet on the floor. Groping is touching anything that should be covered by a bathing suit. Keep your knees together, girls. It's really unnecessary! Especially the constant comment of marriage as the only respectable template for sex. Alice and her friends need to know what sex feels like so they won't be in the dark on their wedding night. Umm...... I'm not sure about you, but.. antiquated much?

Realism is, obviously, completely out the window, even though the whole point is the book is to give a "realistic" portrayal of questioning teenage girls. I think it falls flat on many outcomes, but is overall an entertaining book that does seek to answer some of the burning questions. I would like to read an equivalent book for a young male audience; are there any?? Recommendations?