Now I'll Tell You Everything (Alice)
Gr 9 Up–This final book about the popular character begins with Alice McKinley heading off to college and continues up to her 60th birthday. Longtime readers of the series will enjoy following Alice; her older brother, Lester; and her lifelong friends Pamela, Elizabeth, and Gwen as they choose careers and life partners. Alice has two children who teach her a few things about what it must have been like to parent her when she was young. Naylor discusses controversial issues, especially those relating to sex, with an admirable frankness, but readers may find her stilted language and didacticism off-putting. Most of the earlier books cover a few months and, in cramming more than 40 years into this final entry, The author sacrifices some of the character and plot development that grounded her earlier works. Now I'll Tell You Everything can feel like an outline of itself, with sketchy details added in around major life milestones. Beautifully described moments–like Alice and her former classmates opening a time capsule compiled by their 12-year-old selves–pepper the novel, but unless readers have grown up loving Alice, there may not be enough to keep them reading.–Gesse Stark-Smith, Multnomah County Library, Portland, ORα(c) Copyright 2013.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.