After she, her older brother, and their father move from Chicago to Maryland, Alice has trouble fitting into her new third grade class, but with the help of some new friends and her own unique outlook, she survives.

The summer before eighth grade, Alice tries to confront her fears, not the least of which is a fear of deep water.

When motherless Alice turns thirteen she feels in-between, no longer a child but not yet a woman, and discovers that growing up can be both frustrating and wonderful.

It's the summer after Alice's freshman year, she's survived her breakup with Patrick, and she and her friends are looking forwards to their jobs as assistant camp counselors. Alice and her friends spend three weeks working as assistant counselors at a camp for disadvantaged children and cope with all kinds of changes. Alice feels as if she's finally gotten a handle on life. But Alice soon learns that the only thing she can count on is change. Pamela's...

Alice is in the eighth grade, and while she wants her life to be exciting and outrageous, she also wants to feel protected and safe.

Fourth-grader Alice tries unsuccessfully to avoid embarrassing mistakes and to establish better relations with her older brother Lester. Can someone die of embarrassment? Everything seems to go wrong for Alice: whether it's being seen in her underpants by Donald Sheavers from next door or saying dumb things in class. Worst of all, she's managed to get Lester really mad at her. Will life ever get any easier? Fourth grade can't end soon enough for Alice!...

Alice's first year in high school gets off to a difficult start when she and her boyfriend Patrick break up, but with the help of her father, older brother, and best friends, she gains a better sense of her own self-worth.

Fifth grade is tumultuous for Alice as she tries to help others through the many changes occurring at home and in school, including learning about sex when Rosalind gets her period and shares a book that explains what is happening.

Maudie, one of a large family growing up in Iowa in the early 1900s, seems to attract nothing but trouble when all she wants is to be noticed for herself; and when a crisis hits the family she finally accomplishes this in the best way possible.

A teenager in a large family that lives in a trailer yearns for love, approval, an escape from endless chores, and a chance to make something of herself. When a good and decent man, seven years her senior, falls in love with her, she realizes marriage to him could solve her problems.