Patiently Alice

From School Library Journal Grade 6-9-Alice's many fans will be delighted to see the heroine back in action. Having survived her first year of high school, Alice and her friends are off to be counselors at a coed camp for disadvantaged children. Her father and his longtime love, Sylvia Summers, are finally preparing to walk down the aisle, and her brother, Lester, is planning to move out. Can one girl handle all this change? The summer challenges Alice's patience at every turn, but she sails through with her usual charm and good humor. Some of the camp scenes are racially charged as one camper calls another "the n-word" and Alice must deal with her emotionally needy young charges. She realizes that she is not the center of the universe and is all the wiser for it. Readers will appreciate Naylor's skilled handling of all of the above. They will laugh out loud at some scenes, particularly when Elizabeth buys condoms for their friend Pamela, "just in case," and hold their breath in other instances. Naylor's writing continues to be fresh and witty, and her characters live the real-world struggles of many teens.