The Grooming of Alice wraps up her middle school years in fine fashion. Major plot line - Alice, Elizabeth and Pamela all try to get more physically fit to look their best. Minor plot lines, Elizabeth carries it too far and is flirting with anorexia, Pamela is having major difficulties with her father, and vice versa, Alice is volunteering at the hospital as a candy striper with Gwen, Mrs. Plotkin repeatedly goes into the hospital, and Mr. McKinley goes to England to spend two weeks with Miss Summers.
One of the better books in the series. ( )

I have always loved the Alice books, and this one is no exception. She does such a terrific job with the feelings of teenage girls. In this book, set in the summer before the girls go to high school, Alice is volunteering at a hospital, and she and her friends are trying to get in shape. Alice’s friend Elizabeth takes this a little too far, and teeters on the edge of anorexia – something that Elizabeth’s mom talks about with Alice. Alice also talks to her older brother about sex, and he is frank and honest with her, something that I really appreciate in a book for teenage girls. I think it is not that often that you read something that educates without preaching. The girls also go to a seminar where the range of female bodies is discussed – again, without too much ulterior motive. But what I think Naylor gets best is Alice’s life – how she is always changing and questioning life and what to do. It really hits a spot with me, and I hope it does with girls as well. I will definitely keep reading in this series – I love Alice and her experiences. ( )

Alice continues to model safe, commonsensical ways of navigating the foggy shoals of adolescence, as the summer before high school brings crises, comedy, beginnings, endings, and new life skills. Actually, Alice, with a rewarding new job as a candy striper and a boyfriend who turns out to be as good a cook as he is a kisser, has it pretty good. It's those around her-older brother Lester, whose new squeeze is an imperious fashion plate, best buddies Elizabeth and Pamela, the former veering toward anorexia, the latter struggling through a stormy relationship with her father-who provide most of the angst. As usual, though, Alice provides most of the theater, and before this voyage ends she has helped teach Elizabeth how to use a tampon; learned to administer a self-examination (""Well", I said to my privates, "Nice to meet you""); rides out the death of her beloved sixth-grade teacher; and hits a crest of joy when her father and junior-high English teacher Sylvia Summers finally-finally!-announce their engagement. Sailing through her 12th "Alice" with nary a sign of series fatigue, Naylor, as usual, masterfully imparts physical, social, and emotional information while bringing readers to tears and laughter. 2000, Atheneum, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 11 to 14. © 2000 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2000 (Vol. 68, No. 9))

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2000 (Vol. 68, No. 9))
Alice continues to model safe, commonsensical ways of navigating the foggy shoals of adolescence, as the summer before high school brings crises, comedy, beginnings, endings, and new life skills. Actually, Alice, with a rewarding new job as a candy striper and a boyfriend who turns out to be as good a cook as he is a kisser, has it pretty good. It's those around her-older brother Lester, whose new squeeze is an imperious fashion plate, best buddies Elizabeth and Pamela, the former veering toward anorexia, the latter struggling through a stormy relationship with her father-who provide most of the angst. As usual, though, Alice provides most of the theater, and before this voyage ends she has helped teach Elizabeth how to use a tampon; learned to administer a self-examination (""Well", I said to my privates, "Nice to meet you""); rides out the death of her beloved sixth-grade teacher; and hits a crest of joy when her father and junior-high English teacher Sylvia Summers finally-finally!-announce their engagement. Sailing through her 12th "Alice" with nary a sign of series fatigue, Naylor, as usual, masterfully imparts physical, social, and emotional information while bringing readers to tears and laughter.