Alice, I Think (books)

"Alice, I Think" (ISBN 9780060515447) is first in a series of books by Susan Juby. It was made into a television series of the same name. The second and third volumes in the series are "Miss Smithers" and "Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last".

Fifteen year old Alice is a "hyper-critical, socially-awkward narcissist with mind-numbingly poor judgement." After her first counselor has a meltdown, Alice MacLeod and her new counselor, Death Lord Bob, decide that Alice’s horizons need expanding. Enter Alice’s Life Goals List. It’s time to grow up, act her age, maybe even to high school after years of home schooling. Alice is on the hunt for a look, a social life, a job, a boyfriend, and, most importantly, a half-decent haircut. But getting those things in Smithers, B.C., isn’t easy. Particularly if Irma of Irma’s Salon is in charge of the new look.

Sporting a new haircut that is reminiscent of a large construction helmet, Alice is attacked by marauding headbangers as she sits in the family station wagon in the parking lot of the Smithers Grocery Giant. Her mother comes to the rescue and the situation ends up in a brawl. An aging hippie chick who makes her children wear lead aprons in front of the computer, Alice’s mom is just one of the novel’s wonderful and wacky characters...

Other characters include Alice's small and talented brother, MacGregor, who is very good at science and breeds fish. Alice's father doesn't seem to ever hold a real job, he often makes lists and engages in pointless busy work, without getting anything done. He used to be in a band, The Hoar Hounds. He is friends with a motley crew of oddballs, including Finn, a gay man with questionable fashion taste who drinks prefusely, Marcus, a cab driver who often dates much younger women, and Kelly, an extremely sensitive man with a fondness for the late Princess Diana.