Customer Reviews

Grosse Pointe Girl

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though I've moved away to attend college, I still list Grosse Pointe as my permanent residence. Ms. McCandless' book rings uncannily true. This edition is, I believe, an edited second printing; it is longer than the earlier printing that I've read before, and some names have been changed. It is also longer, and contains an unexpectedly poignant chapter on her class' ten-year reunion.
While Grosse Pointe is a unique place to grow up, the thing that strikes me most about this book is its universality. Individual people, places, situations are atypical for anywhere but GP, but the overall feeling of the book is of that adolescent struggle between individuality and acceptance; perceiving yourself as an outsider when everyone else sees you as in.
Another reviewer found this book to be trite, perhaps overplayed - but as he said, he's been out of GP for a long time. People identifying with this book too closely -- looking into another's adolescence to try and find their own, people that nitpick the details that the author chose to include, are not going to get overmuch out of their read. But the book is well-written (the prose is engaging and not overwrought, though not particularly outstanding), and it accurately portrays growing up on the 'right side of the tracks'. Reading it made me think back to my middle- and high-school days, and wonder what it will be like at my own ten-year reunion. It made me realize that everything changes, and everything stays the same. It is a poignant reflection, and worth a read.

Thirteen brief chapters charter the coming-of-age of Emma Harris, beginning with her relocation to Detroit's upscale Grosse Point suburbs during the summer before sixth grade. Although capably written, Emma's story is a collage of familiar awkward moments and cliches seen in countless memoirs and movies about the American teenager. In a sense, this gives it a certain warmth and comfort, in a "we've all been there, sister" kind of way. On the other hand, McCandless never really gives Emma's journey any new twist or perspective, which is a little disappointing. She is immediately befriended by a nice girl next door, whom she ditches as soon as the cool girls start to be nice to her (although why they do is not apparent), and then eventually spurn her in turn. She struggles with the usual uncertainties of her first crush and first kiss, embarrassment of her first period, and disappointment of losing her virginity. In short, all the familiar touchstones of the female coming-of-age story are here, in a well-told, but ultimately well-worn tale.

Grosse Pointe Girl by Sarah Grace McCandless is not a typical diary from the well-to-do in this northern suburb of Detroit. It is instead almost an understated peek at the angst of the adolescence of one of its residents. It is not a whine, and like fine wine, the flavor is subtle yet rich. It truly sneaks up on you. Each chapter is well written with a vivid imagery, but "The Lochmoor Moms" is truly the apex. In one final sentence, Ms. McCandless captures the sense of a generation in suburbia.

Maybe it's because I live in Michigan, but from the moment I saw it, I knew I couldn't resist GROSSE POINTE GIRL. It's the story of any teenager; chock full of boys, friends, cliques, and angst.

McCandless writes honestly and sparsley. I really enjoyed her prose, and I can relate to many of the experiences that Emma, the books protagonist, goes though. GROSSE POINTE GIRL chronicles her from 6th through 12 grades, and then her 10 year reunion. Emma is well rounded but not very special. She does typical teenage things, such as ditching her best friend for the cool girls, and losing her virginity to the wrong boy.

The best part of GROSSE POINTE GIRL are the descriptions of Grosse Pointe, Michigan and social circles in the area. The country clubs there are described correctly, as are the couples who belong to them.

McCandless's honest writing is presented with Christine Norries' well done drawings.

My favorite line from the book is its last exchange: 'Some things never change.' 'Some never will'. To older readers from the other 49 states, GROSSE POINTE GIRL may seem like the same old, but to those from the land of the hand-map, it is truly special.

Spanning the years of Emma Harris's middle school to 10-year reunion experience, GROSSE POINTE GIRL is a short, yet revealing look at adolescence. Remember the days of 'going' with someone, terrifying, yet hopeful school dances, and navigating the dangerous waters of female friendships? It's all captured here in snapshot form.

Grosse Pointe is a suburb of Detroit and after Emma's parents divorce, she is living on the fringes of the affluent area of town. During the course of the book she ditches her best friend for the popular crowd, gets ditched by the popular crowd, loses her virginity, finds true friendship and love, and learns the meaning of loss.

The writing is spare, but it allows you to see through to the rigidity and sameness of adolescence and suburban life.

Funny and original, this book is one of my favorites. True, some of the stories are "well-worn" but they are told in such a way that it seems fresh and new. I recommend this book 100%.

At first, Sarah Grace McCandless book 'Grosse Pointe Girl' sounds like tripe; one expects to find girlish babbling smattered with the recounting of adolescent misadventures amid the socially elite. However, beyond the borders that separate Grosse Pointe (GP) from Detroit, lying past the white picked fences of perfection instituted in an ivy-covered village, comes the refreshingly candid tale of a teen caught between being the in-crowd and an outsider.

The 8 brief emotive chapters recount growing up on the fringes of the elite, as an impressionable and vulnerable high school girl secretly harboring self-doubt while trying to fit in with her perennial friends. Chapters of 'Grosse Pointe Girl,' such as 'The Lochmoor Moms,' or 'The One That Wasn't,' ring with the simple teenage truths that can be found only at the mall, a high school dance, or swimming by a lake. These emotional truths found in each chapter are framed with vivid imagery that forces the scene upon the reader, such as the narrators' description of her "always casual" suitors and their "tan lean bodies" that resembled "stretched pieces of caramel," or GP wives sneaking away from their husbands to smoke "white menthol sticks...caked with fuschia rose lipstick." Each chapter is perfectly self-contained like an island onto itself, punctuated by a vague timelessness like fog rolling in or a cinematic fade to black.

Engaging and thoughtful, even emotionally overwhelming at times, Grosse Pointe Girl is a rich and delightful narrative of self discovery that stands apart from other Grosse Pointe based literature. Appropriately, the final chapter of 'Grosse Pointe Girl,' 'Reunion,' finds the narrator attending her 10-year reunion; a circumstance where memories tend to resurface sugarcoated, freeze-dried, and sentimental. However, in 'Grosse Pointe Girl' the reunion is recounted with a quiet and unexpected truthfulness that will surprise.

This book is exemplary of the lives of all maturing youth,however,the main focus is on well-to-do youth in Grosse Pointe ,Michigan.

Maturing into adulthood,yet still living the life of a youth the
character shows clearly that beach life ,pearls,impressing friends,and livelihood are seemingly what life's all about.The problem is that the growing up process,filled with discoveries,is beginning to have an effect ,and a person can can be wealthy or poor,tall or short,etc. ,but they still face growing up.

This is the autobiography of Sarah Grace McCandless,known by many as the Director of Publicity(former)for Dark Horse Comics.
Read this book,and discover for yourselves the stages of maturity and conscience which led to her success after maturing.

Find out for yourself if it was easy or hard. It is an enjoyable book to read.

It's been awhile since I was a teenager, but this book brought it all back - the joys, the angst, the discomfort, the mystery that is high school and beyond. If you liked this book you might also like "The Year of Secret Assignments" by Jaclyn Moriarty and "An Egg on Three Sticks" by Jackie Moyer Fischer.

I ran from Grosse Pointe as fast as I could after graduating from high school, and this book reminded me why I did so. Many of the stories are certainly universal -- the angst, the inferiority, the self-deprication -- but some are quite specifically "upper middle class" and horrible to remember. Written with bleak honesty and utter clarity, the book was tough to read from an emotional perspective. Worth it, certainly for anyone with adolescent daughters growing up in a community like this one.