Alice, I Think
[Adult / Teen]
After her first therapist has a meltdown, Alice MacLeod and her new therapist decide that Alice’s horizons should be expanded. Enter Alice’s Life Goals List. It’s time to grow up, act her age, maybe even go back to high school after years of being taught at home. Alice is on the hunt for a look, a social life, a job, a boyfriend, and most importantly, a half decent haircut. But getting those things in Smithers, B.C., isn’t easy. Particularly if Irma of Irma’s Salon is in charge of the new look.
Praise for Alice, I Think
Vancouver Sun
“Imagine a younger, non-smoking, non-drinking, non-dieting Bridget Jones in a remote British Columbia locale. Imagine Adrian Mole with a father who writes (but never publishes) romance novels and a younger brother who breeds rare and unusual fish. Imagine Holden Caulfield in a 1950s housedress, nurse shoes and full 1980s makeup, adjusting to life at an alternative high school after 10 years of home-schooling.
Imagine Alice. You’re going to love her.”
Dallas News
“Some books are funny, others wickedly fun. Alice, I Think, an unusual first novel by Susan Juby, falls in the latter group. Ms. Juby’s droll take on normal childhood and adolescent angst in an awkward world inspires laughter and sympathy.”
New York Post
“Most humor books about teenage girls settle for jokes about bras and thongs, but this one stalks bigger game. … Wry, honest, and somehow simultaneously cynical and innocent, Alice is an original.”
Vancouver Sun, Top Pick for 2003
“This may be a book for young adults – or, as Juby herself claims, immature adults – but it’s full of empathy and humour, both rare commodities in contemporary fiction.”
Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
“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. Juby’s … dark wit virtually glitters on every page.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Juby turns out smart and sassy one-liners and a full catalog of pop-culture references … as snappy as a sitcom and could turn out to be as popular.”
Kirkus (starred review)
“Comedy rules in Juby’s satirical, laugh-out-loud debut about a wacky home-schooled teenager who decides to try public high school… the biggest complaint readers will likely have is the pain in their stomachs from laughing. Hilarious.”
Globe and Mail
“The best of YA fiction captures the pleasurable and disorienting chaos of childhood. It seems to be written because the author had a story she couldn’t help but tell. Take for instance the wonderfully arch Alice, I Think, by Susan Juby. This book runs on high-octane humour. …There is nothing censored or condescending. This is the goods: what it’s like to be a young adult.”
The Chronicle Herald
“…What makes the telling of it so poignant and funny is Alice MacLeod’s realization and acceptance of her own amazing “weirdness”, delivered in a perfectly believable voice by first-time Canadian YA novelist Susan Juby….her honesty towards herself and her audience of readers stands out through her engaging narrative. It’s often very funny but also always thoughtful…Her highly original self-expression is at once entertaining, endearing and eye-opening…”
YA Books Central
“… the entire book will have you laughing hard enough to make your parents wonder what is going on.”
Books in Canada
“… this novel is a dead-on, laugh-out-loud female coming of age story… how did this miss out on the Leacock Award.”
Canadian Literature
“… a great, funny romp of a book… completely unlike any other novel in this genre… a really strong debut from an obviously talented writer.”
Quill and Quire
“You’ve got to like a kid who continues in therapy just so her mental-health professional won’t be traumatized. And 15-year-old Alice, notwithstanding the opinions of her classmates, parents and neighbors in Smithers, B.C., is terrific.”