Belinda Dao

This is for all my fellow Shopaholic addicts out there. I recently received this email from Sophie Kinsella that made me so happy. Why? Because there’s going to be another Shopaholic book!

A special thanks from Sophie!

Hello!
I want to thank everyone so, SO much. I’ve been overwhelmed, by the numbers of you who have bought Twenties Girl, and by all the lovely comments I’ve received. It means so much to me to know that you’ve enjoyed my books—and this one is particularly special to me.

A big wave to anyone who has seen me at one of my Skype events. They’ve worked so well, I’ve been thrilled!

As I told everyone who came to the events, I’m working on a new Shopaholic book. Yay! I am so happy to be back in Becky’s crazy world. It’s too early for me to tell you much more at the moment, but over the coming months I’ll be sharing a few sneak-preview details…

Hope you’re having a wonderful summer and see you again soon!

xoxo

PS: I have been thinking about all the great new books coming this fall and I can’t wait for the new Dan Brown! I’m a complete sucker for his page-turners. I’ll be making sure I avoid reading any reviews and won’t even read the back cover, because I hate having the plot revealed to me in advance. I want to just plunge in and see where the story takes me. I’m also looking forward to the new Audrey Niffenegger novel, as I adored The Time Traveler’s Wife.

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Another deliciously good tale from Sophie Kinsella. I found myself staying up all night reading Can You Keep A Secret?. It is one of those books you do not want to put down. (I finished it within half a day.) As the female lead, Emma is absolutely hilarious and you just cringe with her during her various embarrassing moments throughout the book. (WARNING: Spoiler coming up in the next few sentences. Skip to the next paragraph to avoid it.) The only problem I had while reading Can You Keep A Secret? was during the beginning of the dating relationship between Jack Harper and Emma. To me, it seemed sort of out of the blue (it happened so quickly for me) yet it was predictable. I would have liked to see the relationship develop a bit more before he asks her out to dinner.

Other than that, Ms. Kinsella has done it again in creating a relatable, lovable, yet fictional, female character in Can You Keep A Secret?. I certainly hope she will write a follow-up to this book because the tale of Emma Corrigan needs to be continued.

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This is part 17 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Nineteen – Good-byes and Beginnings

No one plans anything for the last weekend of August. Alice resents the fact that neither Gwen, Pamela, nor Liz have said anything to her and she feels that she is the one who always invites them over. After milling around the house for a day, Alice texts Gwen, Pamela, and Liz asking them if they wanted to get together that evening. All of them respond yes. Once together, they cannot think of something to do. They end up going to their elementary school. They are silent at first, but then each of them shares how they have been coping. Pamela walking mindlessly around the mall. Liz on Google trying to find statistics about road accidents. When Gwen does not say anything, Alice asks her how she has been dealing with the loss. Gwen says she feels out of the group because she has not known Mark that long and she does not share the same memories they have. At the mention of memories, Alice begins to cry saying she just feels sad for the Stedmeisters. When Gwen asks how she has been dealing with the sadness and that she has not heard from her during the past week, Alice replies that she has been feeling miserable and none of them have bothered to contact her. Gwen, Pamela, and Liz all respond by telling Alice that she could have asked for help and that she has always been there for them. Alice realizes that that is true and that asking for help is harder than helping. They also tell her that people grieve in different ways. Gwen then suggests visiting the Stedmeisters to which they all agree. As they leave the school, Alice decides that the first article she will write for The Edge will be called “Memories of Mark”.

When the girls visit the Stedmeisters, his parents show them the tree they planted in honor of Mark. Alice herself feels like a new tree surviving the summer. At home, she receives an e-mail from David. At the end of the email he tells her he misses the Melody Inn and all the good conversations he had with her. He tells her that he hopes she feels better after this tough time and adds that “astonishing things can happen to people who hope”. Alice also receives an email from Patrick, who hates to e-mail, asking her if she wears the earrings he got for her and if she could take a picture of her wearing them and send it to him. Afterward, she gets a call from Molly telling her that she is in remission and is allowed to start college in the fall. Alice is ecstatic at this news. When she finds her father sitting out on the porch with a crossword puzzle, she tells him that she is not sure if she is Christian or if she believes in God, but she wants “to be part of everything that’s good and true and real”. Ben tells her “that’s a terrific place to begin”, invites her to help him with his crossword puzzle, and says they can discuss her new realization some more.

MY TAKE: This was a good ending to a good book. The beginning showed that Alice had some true emotions, which some people may feel. I especially liked the part where her friends tell her that people grieve in different ways. The emails Alice received were nice to read about as well and I am glad the book had a hopeful, more positive end.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 16 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Eighteen- Believing. Or Not.

Liz, Gwen, Pamela, Keeno, and Alice are gathered at the Price’s house. The adults are in the dining room. Mark’s dad had briefly told Ben on the phone that a minister was at their house and Mark’s mom was sedated. When Alice called Patrick, she knew that he was crying even without asking. Patrick wanted to know the date of the funeral and Alice promised to tell him when she knew. Alice recalls in her mind the last time she saw Mark. It was only last night that the group had gone out for dinner. As the adults talk about the technical and hypothetical aspects of the accident, all Alice can think is nothing can change what happened and now Mark is dead.

On Wednesday night, Alice, Pamela, Liz, and Gwen head over to the Stedmeister’s house. There, everyone who has ever swum in their pool is gathered out front (minus Patrick). They form a semicircle around the house holding lighted candles. No one speaks. They stand in silence as a tribute to the Stedmeisters and Mark, for everything that they did and for everything Mark would now not be able to enjoy. When the door opened, both Mr. and Mrs. Stedmeister appeared and hesitantly walked out onto the porch. Mrs. Stedmeister, in a trembling voice, thanks the group of friends and asks them to sit around the pool for a while and to please accept some lemonade.

The next couple of days for Alice are slow. When Gwen drives them by to the spot where Mark died, they see a memorial of flowers and such had been set up his memory. The girls talk about what they would miss them most about Mark from his smile to his ready-to-do-anything spirit to the fact that although he was an average guy, they just needed him to be there. Gwen mentions how Mark took control when there were intruders at the party at Lester’s house and Alice mentions how even though Brian has basically left the group, Mark was becoming “more sure of himself”.

There is an article in the newspaper about the accident, but it just does not capture the severity of what happened for Alice and her friends. When Alice calls Pamela to check up on her, Pamela does not see the point in anything at all because everything feels out of anyone’s control. Alice tries to explain to her that nothing is a guarantee, but you still need to live life. When Pamela blames the truck driver, Alice tells her that Ben told her the man it was an old man who probably fell asleep at the wheel or something.

At the funeral, Patrick, who flew in for the funeral, but has to fly right back for his father’s birthday that evening, and Alice sit together with Ben, Sylvia, and Lester. It is a sad moment and Alice tries not to think about Mark’s accident and what he might have gone through. Mark’s uncle speaks on behalf of the family and shares a moment about Mark. When asked if anyone else would like to speak, Patrick gets up and speaks. Mark and him have been friends since fourth grade. He says that Mark’s death has impacted the lives of his friends in unexpected ways. They all appreciate life more as they do Mark and his parents. As Patrick ends his eulogy, everyone is crying or trying to hold back tears. Alice even sees Brian Brewster, who is trying to hold his sobs back, but cannot. After the funeral, Patrick has to leave, but Alice and the others go to the cemetery. Mark’s casket is lowered into the ground as Mrs. Stedmeister cries into her husband’s shoulder. After the burial, they each decide that each week one of them should come by and visit the Stedmeister. By the end of they day, all of them are exhausted.

At the Melody Inn, Alice tells David that she does not believe in God anymore because He lets bad things happen to innocent people. Alice then asks him how he explains it. David replies that he does not and that it makes sense to believe in God when “your faith is stronger than your doubt”. He also says he wants to believe in God and so he does. David says he understands what Alice is thinking and Alice ends the conversation by saying she does not understand anything at al.

MY TAKE: Again, another emotional chapter. I thought Mrs. Naylor did a good job handling the aftermath of Mark’s death showing the feelings and questions one has after a loss of a loved one. It just comes to show how important a character Mark was and what he meant to the Alice series. He will be deeply missed.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 15 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Seventeen – The Unthinkable

Alice begins to think that she may not know her brother as well as she thought because so far an unidentified woman caller has called twice and Lester just received a letter from a married ex-girlfriend. She leaves the letter in Lester’s drawer so Pamela does not find it though Pamela’s problem has not been snooping. It has actually been leaving dishes everywhere in the apartment other than the sink. The other girls, including Alice, also have their own faults that bother the other girls. Alice figures that this ten day stay at Lester’s apartment is a preview of future apartments and roommates.

Later that night, a knock is heard at the door. The girls think that it is Mr. Watts coming up for doughnuts, but when Liz answers the door, Alice hears the voice of the woman caller! She immediately heads to the door and sees a woman with dyed hair and too much makeup. The woman is obviously confused about the situation she sees in front of her so Alice invites her in and asks her where she met Lester. The woman tells her she met Lester and his two friends last week and he said she could call him. Since Lester did not give her his number, just saying he lived in Tacoma Park, the woman looked him up in the phonebook because she felt like she really hit it off with him. After seeing a picture of Lester, George, and Paul, the woman realizes that the man she met was not Lester. They had obviously tricked her. After the woman leaves, the girls hope they are never that gullible, stupid, or desperate and hope they never meet those guys.

When Lester calls to check up on Alice, she tells him about the woman. Lester has an idea of the jerks who might have done that to the woman who he feels sorry for. Alice then decides to tell Lester about Crystal’s letter. Lester asks if she opened it and Alice says no. Lester then instructs her to write “Return to Sender” and to mail it back to Crystal. Alice asks Lester if he is curious as to what Crystal might want and Lester tells her this is Crystal’s second letter to him. He wishes he never opened the first one. Basically, Lester tells Alice, Crystal is someone who wants something she cannot have and she needs to learn to work through her problems, whatever they may be.

The rest of the week is uneventful. Keeno comes over to see Elizabeth and they sit in his car. Austin calls Gwen. The girls spend Saturday cleaning the apartment to get it ready for Lester’s return. After they finish, the phone rings. Alice picks up the phone and it’s Crystal. She wonders why her letter got returned to her and Alice tells her she did what Lester told her to do. Alice then tells her that Lester told her she needs to work out her problems with Peter and that she always wants what she cannot have. Crystal thinks the reason Lester is being this way is because he might have a girlfriend. Alice tells her that she does not know all the details of Lester’s personal life, but if he wanted to send back her letter, then he most likely meant it. When Crystal says that things would not be this way if she married Lester, Alice does not answer. Crystal ends up thanking Alice for being honest and tells her to tell Lester that Crystal says good-bye.

The next day, Mr. Watts tells the girls he was sad to see them go because they provided a lot of fun moments. Lester calls Alice and thanks her for watching the apartment.

As summer was reaching the middle of August, Alice just wanted to be busy again pitching ideas for The Edge to keep her mind off Patrick. The regular group all worked during the day and met up during the evenings to hang out. They were enjoying it before the rush of senior year. Alice remarks to Sylvia how glad she is to see Elizabeth having fun again, especially with Keeno. The last part of the chapter is broken down in time. 6pm: Close up shop at the Melody Inn. 6:30pm: Sylvia makes chicken and Alice and Ben make salad. 7pm: They eat dinner and Ben serves them ice cream. 8pm: Patrick calls and they talk for twenty minutes. 8:22pm: As Alice heads downstairs, the phone rings. Ben calls to her to pick up the phone. When Alice answers the phone, she hears sobbing on the other line. It’s Elizabeth. Mark has died. The accident happened around 6:30pm. Both girls are crying uncontrollably. Alice sinks to the floor. She feels like she cannot listen to the rest, but knows she has to. Liz tells her Mark was waiting to make a left turn behind an SUV when a truck came from behind and did not stop. Mark was trapped. As both girls continue to cry, Ben and Sylvia walk in. Ben yells Alice’s name when he sees her on the floor. All Alice can do is say, “Oh, Daddy! Mark’s dead.”

MY TAKE: The end of this chapter was shocking. I knew someone was going to die, but I never suspected it would be Mark. As I read what happened, my whole body felt paralyzed. I felt how Alice and Liz were feeling. Shock. Sadness. Uncontrollable grief. Just when we were beginning to learn more about Mark and see him become more of a good, decent person, his life ends so quickly. I know this is a fictional book, but as I have said before, I have grown up with Alice and to see her lose one of her good friends is simply tragic. I felt like I lost one of my close friends. Mrs. Naylor has written this series so well that this part of the book is so emotional for me that it is hard for me to even type this. I even had tears in my own eyes.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 14 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Sixteen – A Woman Caller

The girls decide to throw a party in the backyard because technically no boys are inside the house. Everyone is free except for Brian. Molly even comes and she is beginning to look a lot better (chemo had ended). The girls order pizza and set up a volleyball net. Mr. Watts lets the boys use his bathroom and watches the game from his porch. During the break, Liz purposefully tells the girls (including Penny) that Alice went to go visit Patrick. Penny shares that she had surgery for an ingrown toenail. (Alice wonders if she’d be able to tell the current girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend something unglamorous as such that.) Jill then bitterly tells the girls that the Colliers are trying to break Justin and her up. Justin’s mom even refers to her as “GDJ”, Gold Digger Jill. Jill, however, is undeterred and reveals that she and Justin have a plan, but will not say what it is.

Later at night, four of Keeno’s schoolmates show up to the party, three of them carrying bears. They said they saw Keeno’s car out front and had to check it out. Keeno is obviously surprised at these uninvited guests and do not ask them to stay. The four uninvited guests then proceed to make lewd comments and interrupt the party. They take the volleyball and start hitting it around. Keeno pleadingly asks them to leave, but they obviously do not. They continue to disrupt the private party, eat the pizza, and do not give the volleyball back. Mark finally intercepts the ball and tells them to leave. Suddenly, they hear a car door close and Alice thinks more people are coming. However, two officers appear. Mark voluntarily tells them they have four uninvited guests who will not leave. One of the intruders tries to set his beer down behind him on the table, but misses. The cops asked who brought the beer and Alice tells them it was the party crashers. The officers escort the four uninvited guests out front for the Breathalyzer tests and apologizes to the group for the intruders. After they leave, Alice begins to worry. Mr. Watts appears from the house and Alice and Liz try to explain and apologize for what just happened. Mr. Watts, however, tells them he called the police. He then tells them he may need donuts to calm himself down. Keeno volunteers to go get a dozen, which they all eat before going home.

When the girls return back to the apartment after the eventful party, Pamela picks up the phone and is hung up on after telling the caller she is not Lester’s sister. They think it is the woman caller from the previous days. Gwen then turns the conversation towards Liz saying that she noticed Keeno and her feeding each other pizza. The girls tease Liz about this new relationship.

That night, Lester calls to check up on things. Alice tells him about the night they thought Mr. Watts was a burglar and Lester laughs. Alice then tells him about that night’s incident because she did not want him to hear it from someone else. Lester sighs and asks if he needs to be worried while gone. Alice assures him things will be fine and she mentions the woman caller who says she met him at a bar. Lester denies going to a bar (he’s been working on his thesis) and tells Alice to get her name and number. After the call ends, Alice tells the girls what Lester said. Pamela does not believe Lester is telling the truth.

On Monday, Ben closes the Melody Inn early to have a going away party for David. Alice also finds out that Marilyn is pregnant. When Alice gets back to the apartment, Alice gets the mail. While sorting through the mail, a blue envelope falls out of the advertisements. It is addressed to Mr. Lester McKinley. In the left hand corner is the word Personal. In the top corner, the name reads Crystal Carey (formerly known as Crystal Harkins).

MY TAKE: What a lot to digest in one chapter! First, the party had some juicy tidbits with good part coming from Jill. I never really liked the idea of Jill and Justin (I’m team Justin and Elizabeth) and Jill lets all the dirty details spill between her and Justin’s mom. I feel like Jill has a hypnotic hold on Justin and I cannot wait to see what their plan is going to be. Secondly, the party took quite a turn. You can see Mark and Keeno becoming the good guys in this book as they try to stop the uninvited guests from further disrupting the party. I felt like they were stepping away from being the goofballs and were becoming more mature. It also was funny how Mr. Watts came to their rescue by calling the police. Thirdly, the woman caller calls again! I really wonder who this lady is and what her connection to Lester is. Lastly, the page turner: a personal letter from Crystal to Lester! Oh, this is getting juicy!

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 13 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Fifteen – Settling In

When Alice, Liz, Pamela, and Gwen enter Lester’s apartment, they see signs with instructions all over the place. Pamela immediately calls Lester’s room when Alice reminds her that she signed an agreement not to go through is stuff. Liz picks George’s room and Gwen takes Paul’s room. Alice says to her friends that they have an apartment to themselves, fully furnished, for ten days, but Pamela remarks that it is too bad they cannot party.

As the girls make dinner, Alice cannot help but feel excited feeling independent like she was in a rented apartment with a career. Pamela gives a toast to their future careers or first apartments before realizing they probably would not be eating steaks if they were first starting out. Gwen then says that Paul seems like an interesting guy based on the his wide range of books in his room. Liz says that she would not want to marry George based on all his finance books. Pamela, with a mischievous smile, says all Lester has are comic books and The Erotic Drawings of Mihaly Zichy! Alice tells her that she is not suppose to snoop and Gwen tells Pamela to sit down and eat or else she’ll tie her up for the evening, but before putting back the book, they have a glance at Lester’s book. After dinner, the girls go check on Mr. Watts.

While sitting around, the girls are predicting their friends and their own futures when the phone rings. There is pause after Alice says hello. A female voice then asks to speak to Lester, but Alice tells her that Lester is gone in Utah for ten days. The woman does not believe Alice is his sister, but instead accuses her of being his girlfriend or wife. Alice is taken back and asks where this woman meant Lester. The woman says she meant Lester at a bar before abruptly hanging up. Alice and her friends do not know what to make of the situation, but want to ask Lester when her returns.

The next night, the girls cook dinner for Mr. Watts. His secret, he says, to staying healthy at ninety-two is doing everything people tell him not to (i.e. eat sugar, red meat, etc.) Not before long, Liz is tired so the girls help Mr. Watts clean up and makes sure he gets into bed before heading back upstairs. After they fall asleep, they awaken to an unfamiliar noise of a stranger in the apartment. They all huddle together scared. They head into the bathroom because that is the only room with a lock. In the bathroom, they find out none of them have a phone to dial 911 so they devise a plan. Two of them will bang loudly on the metal pipes with anything they can find and two of them will yell for help out the window hopefully awaking Mr. Watts. When the intruder starts to jiggle the bathroom doorknob, the plan goes into action until they hear a voice telling them to stop making all the noise. It’s Mr. Watts voice. As the girls open the bathroom door, they see Mr. Watts standing there, one hand holding the pineapple upside-down cake from dinner and one hand holding a flashlight. It turns out he was hungry so he went upstairs to the kitchen to get some since he knew the girls probably would not let him have anymore. Relieved, the girls cut him a slice and explain to him why they were all in the bathroom.

MY TAKE: This chapter brought back the Alice humor for me. I could not stop laughing when I was reading about the lady caller and the intruder. This is the reason why I continue to read the Alice books because of moments like these. Mr. Watts and Pamela also each have their own way of being mischievous that it adds another layer of humor to the story.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 12 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Fourteen – Marking Time

After the last day of helping out at the soup kitchen, Alice just wants to relax for the last week of July. She does however help Sylvia make peach preserve one evening. While they are making it, Sylvia tells Alice that her grandmother prided herself in her peach preserves and cooking. Her mother, on the other hand, prided herself in her laundry while Sylvia prides herself in her knitting. Alice tries to figure out what she is proud of and concludes that it is her articles for The Edge. Alice tells Sylvia she wished she remembered more of her mother. Sylvia wishes she could help Alice with those memories and tells her that Ben sometimes calls “Marie” by mistake. Alice asks Sylvia if she is ever jealous of Marie, but Sylvia says she takes it as a compliment. Alice then asks Sylvia if she is ever jealous of other women and Sylvia reveals that she is sometimes jealous of Alice because Ben worries so much about her. Alice herself reveals to Sylvia that she was jealous of her when she first moved into the house and the conversation continues on about the relationship between mothers and daughters.

On Wednesday night just before dinner, Lester calls Alice. He tells her that a friend who was suppose to watch Mr. Watts while he, George, and Paul go on their trip to Utah is unable to do it and he wants Gwen and Alice to watch Mr. Watts at night instead. Alice tries to get Lester to agree with allowing three girls to come instead of two by reasoning with him that one girl might be out doing something and so another girl would be needed to help Mr. Watts up if he falls. Lester agrees, but says it must be Elizabeth. Alice then says Pamela would feel excluded if Gwen, Liz, and herself were staying at Lester’s apartment without her. Lester does not trust Pamela in his apartment, but eventually agrees when Alice says it is all four of them or none of them. Lester says he will talk things over with Mr. Watts family to make sure they will agree, which he is certain they will, and Alice calls up Gwen, Liz, and Pamela to ask if they will be able to do it, which they all are able to.

MY TAKE: This chapter looks to be setting up an interesting event in the next chapter. I cannot imagine what Alice and her friends are planning to do while staying at Lester’s apartment for ten days, unsupervised. It was funny to read how Alice was able to get Lester to agree to four girls instead of the initial two girls to stay at his apartment. As for Alice and Sylvia, it is nice to see them not bicker and actually be comfortable enough to discuss things with each other.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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This is part 11 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Thirteen – A Heated Discussion

The following night at the soup kitchen, Justin Collier shows up to volunteer. Alice is surprised because Jill, who is usually with him, was not there. Mark and Keeno also come to perform. At first, not many diners are interested in looking at them as they set up. However, once Mark and Keeno start to play, all the diners begin to enjoy the entertainment and some even sing along. Mark and Keeno are so popular that Mrs. Gladys had to make an announcement that after “Amazing Grace” the first group of diners had to clear out so the second group could come in.

After all the diners had been served and the everything had been cleaned up, the volunteers go out back to reset. Shelley compliments Keeno and Mark and adds in that God was behind their decision to come here. Keeno replies that they were there because they were not successful at the Metro stops. Shelley, however, keeps trying to push her point that everything that happens is part of God’s plan. This angers Mavis and the others try to makes sense of Shelley’s argument. Shelley tries to further explain her piont by bringing in an analogy used by her minister: A tapestry has an image on one side but on the other side are knots and loose threads. To us, all we see is the side of the knots of loose thread. We fail to recognize the side with the image, God’s plan. Although Alice thinks Shelley’s analogy has a good point, Austin and Danny do not think Shelley can conclude that Christianity is the religion. The discussion is interrupted by the loud voices of men in an argument. The five boys run down toward the voices while the girls have their cell phones ready to dial 911 in case of an emergency. The voices grow softer and turns to one of the songs that Keeno and Mark had played earlier. When the boys return, Keeno says the argument was a result of a misunderstanding. Shelley says that God had a hand in calming the argument, but Pamela says there is no way to prove it. This argument continues on a little longer until Austin suggests dropping the discussion that they have discussed. Shelley agrees stating that she has already tried her best and that is all she can do.

In the car ride home, Alice, Liz, Gwen, and Pamela talk about the heated discussion. They discuss what they each believe and why (in brief). Alice then asks Pamela how her mom is doing and Pamela replies that it seems as though her mom has friends. This leads to Gwen asking Pamela how she is doing and Pamela replies she is taking a break from boys for the summer. Gwen then mentions how nice it was for Keeno and Mark to come to play for the diners, but Pamela corrects her and says Keeno was there to play for Elizabeth. Alice then drops the girls off and heads home.

MY TAKE: Again, this chapter was uneventful. Nothing too interesting for me.

Be sure to check out other Intensely Alice updates including chapter summaries and reviews (spoiler alert!), surveys, polls, and more!

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*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*

This is part 10 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.

WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.

Chapter Twelve – Shelley’s Sermon

At the soup kitchen, Alice and the other volunteers try their best to please the diners because this meal and the service may be the only positive thing in their day. They are polite and courteous and try to accommodate the diners as best as they can. During their break, Mavis shares with Shelley, Liz, and Alice that she went to Ohio this past spring to help out a city after it had been devastated by a tornado. Shelley takes Mavis’s action as an act of God and tries to convince Mavis that by helping the tornado victims she is serving God. Mavis, however, tells Shelley she was there because she wanted to be there, not because of God. Mavis then declares that she is an atheist. This takes Shelley, and even Elizabeth, by surprise, but before Shelley can argue, Mrs. Gladys (the woman in charge) calls them back for clean up.

The following day, Shelley tells Mavis that she is praying for her. Mavis does not understand why Shelley is so concerned that she is an atheist, but Shelley tells her that she would feel horrible if she were in heaven and Mavis wasn’t because she didn’t do anything to save Mavis. The others immediately question Shelley and her beliefs, but Shelley is prepared for the discussion. The argument gets a bit heated before they have to leave.

In the car ride home, Alice, Liz, Gwen, and Pamela discuss the question of who is right about God. Although they do not answer the question, they do tell Gwen about a twelve-year-old Elizabeth who wanted Pamela to get her breast blessed by a priest after Pamela’s encounter with an older man on the their train ride to Chicago.

The next day, Mark and Keeno come by the soup kitchen an hour before closing and report that their outings are becoming less successful. Mavis recognizes them from TV and Mrs. Gladys invites them to perform the next night for the diners. Liz encourages Keeno to do it so Mark and Keeno agree.

MY TAKE: Personally, this is an uneventful chapter in the book. I get that Mrs. Naylor is trying to introduce a topic of controversy, religion, into the book, but I could care less for it. To be quite honest, I do not read Alice for controversy. I read it because it is funny and I feel as though I have grown up with Alice for a majority of my life so I enjoy reading about Alice and her life. I understand that Alice is growing up so the topics in the book will be more mature, but this is a chapter I could live without. Am I right or am I right?

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