Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Becoming Alice: A Memoir

Becoming Alice: A Memoir
Becoming Alice A Memoir
Author: Alice Rene
ISBN-13: 9780595403394
ISBN-10: 0595403395
Publication Date: 2/27/2007
Pages: 230
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

4 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

GeniusJen avatar reviewed Becoming Alice: A Memoir on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Katie Hayes for TeensReadToo.com

Born with the name Ilse, Alice Rene was six when the Nazis took over her hometown of Vienna, Austria.

Her Jewish family was forced to flee, and while many others, including some of her family members, weren't so lucky, Ilse and her parents and older brother eventually settle in Portland, Oregon.

From there, Alice documents her life in America: learning English, her struggles making friends at school, becoming an American citizen. She changes her name from Ilse to Alice and starts calling her parents "Mom" and "Dad" instead of "Mama" and "Papa."

As she gets older, Alice experiences her first romance and watches her older brother go through the pain of heartbreak. She also gains the courage to stand up to her overbearing father for the first time. When high school ends and she starts applying to college, Alice begins to plan ways to forge her own identity apart from her family.

This is an interesting memoir that reads more as a series of chronological anecdotes than a straightforward narrative. While the effects of the Holocaust are an inescapable part of the novel, the focus is more on Alice's experiences becoming American and establishing her own identity.

I would recommend BECOMING ALICE as an interesting coming-of-age memoir.