Reluctantly Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Starting back in a new school year can be nerve-racking for anyone - and Alice is no exception. She feels strange, she thinks that she looks strange and out of place, and is not used to being on the bottom rung of the ladder . . .She makes it through the first day without making any enemies and sets herself the goal of making it through the whole year. This, Alice finds, is often easier said than done - even her best friends make it difficult sometimes, but when Alice finds herself on the wrong side of the school bully, Denise "Mack-Truck" Whitlock, she feels that it might be downright impossible.