Rereading Alice: Alice in Rapture, Sort Of

Also known as The Bikini Top Fiasco

I had just drunk my orange juice and was waiting for my toast to pop when Dad said, “Well, the summer of the first boyfriend!”

It sounded Wonderful and Sad and Magnificent somehow, like “The winter of our discontent,” or “The spring of our desire,” or “The autumn of our hopes and dreams.” What he was really talking about, of course, was Patrick and me.

Here we go. While The Agony of Alice was a beautiful, perfect book, one about the pains of sixth grade, this is the Alice I remember well. Which is to say, this is when we get into the true awkwardness of Alice, into the anxiety and fear and constant questions and French kissing. This book absolutely is Wonderful and Sad and Magnificent.