It’s the moment Alice has been looking forward to for years—her sixteenth birthday is coming up, and that means getting her driver’s license, with the freedom that entails. And before that important milestone, there’s another delicious taste of freedom awaiting Alice and her friends—a class trip to New York City, promising some serious partying once chaperones have gone to bed. But sophomore year and driving lessons are a lot harder than Alice thought they would be, and then there’s the problem with her new boyfriend, who is sometimes too attached to her. The older Alice gets, the more complicated her life seems to become.

Life, Alice McKinley feels, is just one big embarrassment. Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl? What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her. Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model -- one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.

This bind-up contains three beloved Alice novels: "Alice, Alice on Her Way, "and "Alice in the Know."

In this charming repackage from a beloved series, Alice doesn’t feel like fitting in. Alice McKinley likes her life, but she senses things are changing. She gets a little bored by her best friends Elizabeth’s and Pamela’s obsession with clothes and makeup. She’s just not that interested. And though she is very interested in her boyfriend, Patrick, she’s not entirely sure how to keep their relationship going. Alice is struggling to figure out how she feels about things—and then how her feelings fits into what other people think she should be feeling. Getting older is even trickier than Alice thought—is she ready for the challenge? As Alice stumbles her way through the minefield of early adolescence, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way. Every girl should grow up with Alice, and with this irresistible new look, a whole new generation will want to.

This is where it all started! Eight-year-old Alice McKinley wants pierced ears, really long hair, a pet, and, most of all, a mother. Oh, and some friends would be nice. As the new girl in third grade, Alice doesn't know a single person in Takoma Park, Maryland, except for her next-door neighbor Donald Sheavers, who not only is a boy, but also seems to be a little bit peculiar! Desperate to meet people, Alice learns that making friends is harder than it seems when she runs into a group of girls whom she nicknames "the Terrible Triplets" after they make it very clear that they do not want to get to know Alice. On top of all this, Alice also has to keep an eye on Donald's recently divorced mom, who seems to have her eye on Alice's dad! This is the first of three prequels to Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's beloved Alice series. Now younger girls can get to meet the girl everyone wants to be best friends with, and older girls will enjoy finding out how Alice came to be the Alice they know and love.

Seventh grader Alice decides that the only way to stave off personal and social disasters is to be part of the crowd, especially the in crowd, no matter how boring and, potentially, difficult.

Includes a reading group guide for the Alice series.