Alison Reads

This is the third book in a series about Alice, who lives in a small town in the interior of British Columbia. In this book, Alice is 16 and it is the summer before her senior year of high school. Her hippy mother has to spend the summer in jail because of an environmental protest, her boyfriend has just left to spend a year in Scotland, and now Alice and her father have to try to find jobs. Alice tries a series of part-time jobs but would rather be working on her screenplay. I found Alice annoying and totally self-absorbed, but the book did a good job of portraying a 16-year-old’s world. Includes talk of losing one’s virginity, condoms, drinking, and gay couples both male and female. A 2008 YRCA nominee for grades 7-9.