ALL BUT ALICE

Naylor is a versatile, prolific author whose achievements have just been crowned with a Newbery; her books about Alice (this is the fourth) are many readers' favorites, with good reason: laugh-aloud funny, they also explore real concerns with unusual frankness and compassion. Here, Alice is still in seventh grade, in the throes of bowing to her peers' decrees; suddenly one of the "beautiful people" in her class, she hangs around with old friend Pamela and some boys she has the wit to think of as the "Three Handsome Stooges." Earrings are now a big deal: there's a club, and every weekend is devoted to buying and trading; it takes Alice a while to admit to herself that it's all boring, and that she dislikes excluding old friend Elizabeth, who doesn't want pierced ears. Meanwhile, Dad is dating one of her teachers; brother Lester gets serious about an old flame; and Alice ponders the "Sisterhood" of all women and discovers that Patrick is still a good friend, more fun than the Stooges. An appealing character with real integrity and memorable humor. Fans can rejoice: Naylor plans to take Alice "to her eighteenth year. (Fiction. 9-13)