Alice, I Think

Starred review from June 9, 2003
Revised from a 2000 work published in the author's native Canada, this very funny first novel makes use of the same pseudo-diary format as Louise Rennison's books, but where Rennison's heroine is Everygirl, Juby's is a misfit extraordinaire. Alice has been home-schooled by her aging-hippie parents since early childhood (catering to her fantasy that she is a hobbit, Alice's parents send her to first grade in a homemade outfit involving a burlap-sack tunic and felt slippers with fake fur on the toes, and don't understand why the teachers don't support Alice's self-expression). Now 15, Alice has caused the nervous breakdown of her counselor at the "Teens in Transition (Not in Trouble)" crisis center and feels obliged to do better by her counselor's replacement, a trainee whom Alice dubs Death Lord Bob for his sinister attire and for his "masculine" whispery voice (he sounds "like Clint Eastwood talking tough to the warden"). To help Bob with his considerable (and real) "issues," Alice finds herself setting goals, which include enrolling at the local high school and dreaming up a future career (cultural critic). Along the way, she tries out "alternative" clothing and gets the worst haircut ever, attracts boys even less together than herself, gets pummeled by the local bully—and utters acerbic aperçus that will have readers roaring. While Juby's novel stands out more for her narrator's voice than for its plot, her dark wit virtually glitters on every page. Ages 12-up.

Starred review from July 14, 2003
Goethals does a superb turn as Alice, the alienated teen possessed of a biting sarcasm who stars in Juby's frequently hilarious novel. Providing the perfect air of intelligence tinged with teen angst, Goethals gives Alice's journal about her various travails an undercurrent of energy. Alice, who feels like a true misfit, has been home-schooled for years and will soon enter a public high school. Whether she's keenly critiquing her hippie mother's feminist friends (of the armpit-hair-growing, patchouli-wearing ilk), her father's slacker pals or her generally inept teachers and counselors, Alice offers a unique view of common teenage scenarios and complaints. She suffers at the hands of bullies, feels awkward around boys and longs to create a special "look" for herself, just like most kids her age. Her ever-present family is a source of love and comfort as well as embarrassment. But what makes this tale unusual is Alice's ability to see her everyday dramas in the context of a bigger picture of her life. Particularly entertaining are Goethals's spot-on mocking imitations of the overly caring or just plain daffy authority figures in Alice's life. Teens—and adults who remember their own teen years well—will find much to like here, including plenty of pop-culture references. Ages 12-up. Simultaneous release with the HarperCollins hardcover.

May 31, 2004
Alice, a misfit extraordinaire, has been home-schooled by her aging-hippie parents since early childhood; now 15, she enrolls at the local high school. "Alice's acerbic apercus will have readers roaring," PW
said in a starred review. "Juby's dark wit virtually glitters on every page." Ages 12-up.