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(The Agony of Alice is the first Alice book Naylor wrote, but the fourth if one is reading chronologically as she grows up.)
The Mikenley's (Alice, her father, and her older brother, starting college) move to a new home and she will be stating a new school.
Alice sets out to find the perfect mother figure to help her out, since her own mother died when she was young. Her first choice is the beautiful 6th grade teacher, Miss Cole, but she ends up in the class of Mrs. Plotkin, a dumpy, gray-haired slow moving woman.
Of course, Alice learns many life lessons during the course of the book, some of them hard ones.
In spite of a few spells of meanness early in the book, Alice remains a sympathetic, likable character - and a completely believable one. ( )

Now that I am reading the series in order I am surprised to see how much younger Alice seems in this book compared to the last prequel. That's not to say that I don't enjoy this book. I just think she seems younger than she really is. This book is definitely enjoyable for both children (I first read this in fourth grade) and adults. It is a quick and easy read. ( )