Most of the Alice books have a primary story line, and several secondary story lines. Alice on the Outside was a little different. It seemed to have more secondary story lines, but no primary at all. And it worked out great. After all, most people reading this book have probably read the 12 or so books that preceded it., so we like Alice and if we're just wandering around through her life, friends, and interests, that's okay with us.
Here we have, a semi-formal dance, a (dangerous) social experiment at school*, a sex-ed lesson from Carol, Alice's budding sexuality, Pamela's near exploding sexuality, a friend who comes out as a lesbian, Alice's first black friend (she seems to live in a pretty white-bread world. I doubt too many black middle school girls have fallen in love with Alice as many white girls have.) A birthday that is overlooked (or is it?) etc.
I thought it was one of the better books in the series.

*The school social experiment will likely ring some bells for the few adult readers of the series. It's the kind of experiment that some college professors have developed, using their students as willing subjects, and generally with horrifying results. And to Naylor's credit, at the end of the week of the experiment, Alice's school is near the breaking point because of it. She acknowledges through the story, that in spite of what you may learn from them, experiments like this can have many frightening and disturbing unintended consequences. I certainly hope no real middle school ever tries anything remotely like this. ( )

I really loved this installment and I'm unable to pinpoint why. I think overall it just teaches a very nice lesson about tolerance. Just because people are different than you that doesn't provide you with the grounds to be cruel or to treat them any differently. Alice was a great example of tolerance this go around. I'm excited to continue my journey with her! ( )

I really like how it teaches you some things you will need to know in the future i can't waite to read the next one. ( )

i LOVED the alice books growing up! i definitely recommend them to all girls around 9-10 and up, and the good news is that she's still writing them! so the series starts out when alice is in elementary school and now she's in high school! ( )