‘This isn’t just about me.’

Candice Phee is an hilariously honest and a bit weird twelve year old girl. After the death of her newborn baby sister, Sky, her mother becomes depressed and stays locked in her room for hours non-stop. Her father and Uncle aren’t on speaking terms anymore. Mainly Candice lives a tough life. Can she get her family back together again? Can her Uncle and father talk to each other again? Can Candice make her mum happy again?

At school Candice is given an English assignment. She has to write about something that has happened in her life. The assignment involves writing one paragraph for each letter of the alphabet. But one paragraph isn’t enough to tell her teacher about her life, therefore she decides to write multiple paragraphs for each letter, e.g. ‘A is for Assignment’.

Follow the crazy life of Candice Phee in the novel ‘My life as an Alphabet’ by Barry Jonsberg, a true, heart-filled story. I enjoyed this novel in many ways, like what would the characters do next and whether Candice’s parents could be happy again. It was very interesting how Candice made her parents happy again. The story reminded me that people do go though things like this; everyone doesn’t have a perfect life and family, also people do suffer from depression.

I would recommend this novel for the ages between 11 and 15, who like to read true and humorous stories. When reading this novel young adults would get a full insight into real life problems that other teenagers would be experiencing. This novel keeps you hooked throughout the story with its humour and mysteries that some characters find (you eventually find them out). ‘My Life as an Alphabet’ is truly a great read; therefore I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Erin S, Year 8  

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You could be around a person your entire life, but that doesn’t mean you know them. My Life As An Alphabet is a novel that reflects a teenage girl’s life through school and relates to the dreams and doubts that happen while growing up, discovering who she is as well as who she wants to be. The novel by Barry Jonsberg reflects all these qualities in the home and suburb of an out of the ordinary girl named Candice Phee and her life explained ‘as an alphabet’.

Candice is not really an ‘alphabet’ but she uses the alphabet as a prop to explain what has happened to her for an English assignment. During her time writing the assignment, Candice goes through her past and the tragedy that happened to her sister as well as the family tension that was created without her. At every letter of the alphabet she goes through her life and explains her feelings and weird ways she understands everything she does while writing her essay.

The character’s personality was portrayed really well in this book and the small funny things that happen once in a while throughout this novel were my favourite parts of reading this book. It had good jokes and new comedic challenges that await Candice, her family and Douglas Benson from another dimension, which in the end bring them closer, with Candice learning from her mistakes as well as others.

I rate this book four stars. It made me laugh, cry and just smile when I was reading small paragraphs in my small space of spare time. This novel made me want to read it every chance I got and once reading I couldn’t stop because of how addictive it was. The book was true to teenagers and heartfelt as well as funny in the most part.

If you thought this book was a good book to read then I would think ‘The Fault in our Stars’ or ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ would be another excellent choice to read.

By Angelique, Year 8

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‘This isn’t just about me. It’s also about the other people in my life – my mother, my father, my dead sister Sky, my penpal Denille, Rich Uncle Brian, Earth-Pig Fish and Douglas Benson From Another Dimension. These are people [with the exception of Earth-Pig Fish, who is a fish] who have shaped me, made me what I am. I cannot recount my life without recounting elements of theirs. This is a big task, but I am confident I am up to it.’

Candice Phee is a twelve year old girl from the sunny town of Albright. Her life might seem like a piece of cake on the outside but really it’s not. Her baby sister Sky died years ago, her mum is depressed, her dad is angry at his brother and won’t talk to him and her best and only friend believes he’s from another dimension.

One day at school Candice is given an assignment by her English teacher. It has to be 26 paragraphs long and each paragraph has to start with the next letter of the alphabet. She then decides to write multiple paragraphs instead of one for each letter so that she can recount her whole life during this assignment.

I loved ‘My Life As An Alphabet’ because it shows a girl’s experiences as she tries to cope with guilt, depression and family issues while trying to fix everyone else’s problems at the same time. While this book could be sad at times it also was quite touching and humorous. It reminded me that nobody’s life is perfect and that everyone has their own problems. I would recommend this book to both boys and girls of ages 12 and up because this book is based on a 12 year old girl’s everyday life.

Georgia O, Year 8.