A Girl Called Al by Constance C. Greene

First published: 1969; illustrated

Subjects: Coming-of-age, death, and friendship

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Domestic realism

Time of work: The late 1960’s

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: An American city

Principal Characters:

• The narrator, a down-to-earth, conventional seventh-grader
• Alexandra (“Al”), her best friend, a self-proclaimed nonconformist
• Al’s mother, a sophisticated single parent
• Mr. Richards, the assistant superintendent in the narrator’s building
• Mr. Keogh, the girls’ homeroom teacher
• Herbert Smith, a frequent date of Al’s mother
• The narrator’s mother, a pragmatic woman
• The narrator’s father, a gently sarcastic man
• Teddy, the narrator’s irritating nine-year-old brother

Form and Content

Constance C. Greene’s A Girl Called Al is the story of two seventh-graders who become neighbors in a city apartment building. The authoritative and worldly Al, pigtailed and plump, is a sophisticated nonconformist who fascinates the more conventional narrator, and their growing friendship is the basis for the book’s action.

At Al’s request, Mr. Keogh, the girls’ homeroom teacher, approaches the school principal in an attempt to obtain permission for Al to take a shop class in the place of cooking and sewing courses, but this appeal is denied. As a result, the narrator introduces Al to her special friend, Mr. Richards, the building’s assistant superintendent; Mr. Richards, a retired bartender, constantly chews a toothpick and skates on his kitchen linoleum with rags affixed to his shoes as a cleaning technique. When Mr. Richards is made aware of the fact that Al’s parents are divorced and Al’s father is largely absent, he offers to help Al and the narrator construct bookshelves similar to those that the boys are making in shop class. The reader learns later in the novel that Mr. Richards’ empathy for the lonely Al may be the result of a long-standing separation from his own family; Mr. Richards’ wife left him early in their marriage, and the old man has contact with neither his daughter nor his grandchildren.

One evening, Al’s sophisticated single mother goes out for one of her frequent dinner dates. Al is invited for supper at the narrator’s apartment. Also present are the narrator’s practical mother, her comedian father, and her typically irritating nine-year-old brother, Teddy. Al makes a favorable impression on the family, and the narrator, walking her friend home to an empty apartment at the end of the evening, is struck by Al’s independence. The differences between the two families also become apparent when the narrator prevails upon her mother to invite Al’s mother for tea; the narrator’s mother complies and, obviously as intimidated by her sophisticated neighbor as her daughter is, begins a frenetic cleaning campaign in preparation. The tea, the epitome of social correctness, pleases the narrator, who feels proud of her mother.

As the girls’ friendship develops, the narrator learns that Al waits daily, and in vain, for the arrival of a letter from her father announcing his plans to visit. Al’s mother has a number of male companions, all of whom Al lumps into a single category and compares unfavorably to the idealized version of her own father that she has created. One day, the narrator remarks to Al that she has difficulty understanding Mr. Richards’ lack of a relationship with his daughter. Al reacts strongly to the observation, and the narrator realizes that she has hurt Al’s feelings by pointing out the reality of Al’s nonexistent relationship with her father. The narrator apologizes to her friend, and Al begins to think more realistically about her absentee parent. At last, Al agrees to have dinner with one of her mother’s boyfriends, and the dinner turns out well, to Al’s surprise. Another milestone occurs when Al makes her first clothing purchase without her mother’s approval; she buys a pink sweater with money that her father has sent her. The outing causes Al to realize that her father, despite his good intentions, is probably not going to be a part of her life as she has always hoped.

Meanwhile, the girls’ bookshelves are nearing completion. Stopping at Mr. Richards’ apartment one morning, however, the girls find their friend in bed and unresponsive. Surprisingly, it is Al’s usually distant mother who calls for help and comforts her daughter. Mr. Richards has had a heart attack, and Al and the narrator visit him in the hospital, where they find their friend weak but pleased to see them. As they leave the room, the girls overhear Mr. Richards claim them as his own grandchildren. That night, Mr. Richards dies, and both girls attend the funeral; none of Mr. Richards’ family members is present. The novel closes with the narrator’s revelation that both girls are maturing; the narrator has a date, and Al has lost weight and changed her hairstyle. Memories of Mr. Richards bring the narrator happiness.

Critical Context

Constance C. Greene’s major and best-known works are coming-of-age stories that feature a variety of the crises of early adolescence. A Girl Called Al is the first novel about the title character in Greene’s popular series, which also includes I Know You, Al (1975), Al(exandra) the Great (1982), Just Plain Al (1986), and Al’s Blind Date (1989). Greene’s work also features other popular protagonists, such as the title characters of Isabelle the Itch (1973) and The Love Letters of J. Timothy Owen (1986); the latter novel marked Greene’s foray into novels for older adolescents.

Greene has stated that her own children, as well as personal childhood memories, have inspired and informed her books. Her writing has earned her critical acclaim; A Girl Called Al, for example, is an American Library Association Notable Book.