Alice McKinley Books in Order

Growing up without her mother, Alice searches for a woman who can show her how to become a teenager. School embarrassments and an unexpected teacher complicate her plans for finding the perfect role model.

Alice has a boyfriend, but dating Patrick makes their friendship unexpectedly complicated. As seventh grade approaches, worries about gifts, kissing, and expectations leave her wondering whether having a boyfriend should really be this difficult.

Alice begins seventh grade determined to get along with everyone, until a school bully challenges that plan. Trying to untangle her father’s and brother’s romantic problems creates more complications as she struggles to find her place in junior high.

After a disastrous talent show, Alice wishes she had a sister to help her through embarrassing moments. Her idea of a wider sisterhood promises companionship, but fitting in brings new problems as she navigates school and growing up.

Approaching thirteen, Alice takes her aunt’s advice about becoming the woman of the house seriously. Planning her father’s birthday and arranging medical checkups adds to her worries about changing bodies, classmates, and the demands of growing up.

Newly thirteen, Alice feels caught between childhood and adulthood. A night out with her brother and a train trip to Chicago with her friends expose the pleasures and risks of trying to grow up faster than she feels ready.

With eighth grade approaching, Alice’s friends spend their summer at a swimming pool, unaware that she fears deep water. Keeping her secret means excuses and isolation, leaving Alice to decide how she might begin confronting that fear.

An eighth-grade health assignment asks Alice and Patrick to plan a pretend marriage while classmates confront other imagined adult problems. The exercise raises uncomfortable questions about responsibility, relationships, and how prepared any of them are for growing up.

Eighth grade feels less exciting than Alice expected, so she decides to replace her ordinary image with something outrageous. Experiments with her appearance and behavior bring unexpected embarrassment as she searches for a more interesting version of herself.

Alice is confused when attention from her gentle Camera Club friend Sam makes her question her long relationship with Patrick. Enjoying both boys’ company forces her to examine what she wants and whether affection can point in two directions.

Alice feels increasingly out of step with friends focused on clothes and makeup, while her relationship with Patrick raises new uncertainties. Trying to understand her own feelings becomes harder when everyone seems to expect her to feel something else.

Alice, Pamela and Elizabeth want to start high school feeling confident, so they plan a summer transformation. When Elizabeth takes their weight-loss efforts too far, Alice begins to question what being ready to grow up really means.

Starting high school is unsettling enough for Alice, but new girl Penny's interest in Patrick threatens their long relationship. As Patrick responds to the attention, Alice struggles to recover confidence and imagine herself outside the couple.

Alice is adjusting to life after Patrick and filling her time with theater and the school newspaper. A secret admirer, troubled relationships around her and neglected friendships make newfound independence more complicated than she expected.

Alice begins a summer job as an assistant camp counselor feeling more confident after her breakup. Changes in her friends' families, her brother's plans and her father's romance soon test her ability to keep up.

Alice is thrilled that her father is finally marrying Sylvia Summers, then discovers how left out the wedding makes her feel. Adjusting to a new household and her friends' relationship problems challenges her expectations about togetherness.

Alice anticipates her sixteenth birthday, a driver's license and a school trip to New York. Driving lessons, a demanding sophomore year and an overly attached boyfriend make the freedom she's imagined more complicated than expected.

Alice expects excitement during the summer before junior year, but a department-store job brings shoplifters and new responsibilities. A friend's illness, Lester's romances and changes in her social circle force her to confront uncomfortable realities.

Alice starts junior year tired of being seen as a goody-goody and begins testing boundaries. Dating an experienced senior, arguing at home and attending a secret party force her to confront the consequences of her choices.

Alice wonders whether supporting Pamela and Elizabeth has turned her into a doormat. Jealousy complicates her role as their dependable friend, just as events suggest that they may need her more than she's realized.

Alice wishes she could reunite her friends before pregnancy, college and major decisions changed their lives. When a funeral brings the group together, she faces a painful reminder that familiar friendships can't protect everyone from sudden loss.

Alice's senior year brings school vandalism linked to teenage neo-Nazis and a teacher exploiting her friend. Balancing those crises with harder classes, college applications and work forces her to weigh how much responsibility she can take.

Alice's last semester of high school brings prom plans, college choices, and a pregnant classmate's wedding. With Patrick away in Spain, she must navigate their separation while deciding what she wants from the approaching adult world.

Before college, Alice and her friends spend ten weeks working aboard a Chesapeake Bay cruise ship. Sharing quarters and responsibilities tests their friendships, while unexpected problems complicate a summer meant to celebrate their remaining time together.

Alice enters college with plans to become a psychologist, while distance changes her friendships and relationship with Patrick. Following her into adulthood, the novel explores how ambitions, love, and unexpected decisions reshape the future she imagined.