Alice McKinley
The narrator, protagonist, title character and heroine of the extended series of “Alice” books is entering seventh grade with a determination to become known as Alice the Likable. Not, Alice the Popular or anything so grandiose, but instead something more honest and valuable: a girl both teachers and students recall with a quick smile, a fond memory, and gentle but heartfelt compliment.
Denise Whitlock
One major obstacle stands in the way of Alice the Likable attaining a universal status: school bully Denis Whitlock. Denis is an eight-grader, but word around the cafeteria is that she is repeating a few seventh-grade classes. She belongs to a conspicuous clique that includes three other older girls that the grapevine has targeted as trouble. Alice’s brother Lester is tangentially cognizant of Denise as he applies the rather mean-spirited nickname “Mack Truck” to her largely on account of Denise’s linebacker-like build.
Mr. Hensley
Also known as Horse-Breath Hensley because of a truly majestic case of bad breath, Mr. Hensley is Alice’s World Studies teacher. In addition to bad breath, he also spits when he talks and when he talks what usually comes out is mind-numbingly boring. On the upside, however, he is unique among teachers in that he doesn’t derive pleasure from purposely humiliating students when they don’t know something.
Patrick Long
Patrick Long is a boy who gave Alice her first kiss the summer between sixth and seventh grade. True, it was a rather staid affair, done quickly with his hands upon her shoulders, followed immediately by putting space between them on the glider, but still. Patrick only shares one class with Alice—Mr. Hensley’s—but even so things are kind of weird between them. But then that is the normal course of events in middle school.
Pamela Jones
Pamela is one of Alice’s triple threat of besties stretching across the entirety of the series (although friend number three won’t enter the picture until eighth grade). And yet, not long after declaring a pact to truly remain friends forever, Alice and Pamela hit an iceberg when Pamela rather surreptitiously gives Patrick a copy of the infamous “Bubbles” photograph and Alice has the temerity to enjoy the attention caused by Patrick making a poster of the photo. The path to reconciliation takes a couple of days and only ends with an equally short-lived cold front coming between Alice and her other close friend, Elizabeth.
