Customer Reviews

History Lesson for Girls

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My wife is a big fan of this author. She liked this book so much she convinced me to read it. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Judging by the title, I didn't think it would be a something I would like. But having grown up in the 70's in a similar environment, I found myself relating to Alison and her friend Kate. A lot of people think of the 70's as being a simpler time, when everyone lived in a "Brady Bunch" sterilized world. The truth is completely the opposite. It was a transitional and confusing time in America and this book captures that period perfectly. I recommend this book for anyone who likes a good book about growing up in America (in any decade, not just the 70's) and how traumatic those early teenage years can be.

This novel reads like you just found someone's diary in an attic of a home you just moved into, it is that authentic in every single aspect. Ms. Sheehan captures the essence of a 13-14 year old girl, and her relationship with her best friend in the midst of the 1970s. It is exquisitely poignant and one book I will not soon forget.

I loved Alison's character. She was genuine, innocent, but at the same time mature for her young age (sometimes, more mature than her parents). Alison was challenged with Kate but was rather cool and collective during her friendship. It's interesting how best friends put up with each other. This brought back my childhood memories with best friends, especially. I also enjoyed the way the author described Alison's thoughts and views of her family. There were sarcastic moments that made me laugh, which at the time, it may not have been that funny with Alison. For instance, when Alison had to listen to her parents argue over a petty conversation, the author describes how she has to listen because it was at the dinner table, a place that family should be enjoying their company together but instead it becomes the table of debate. It shows the power of how parents can influence a child. Without giving too many details away, "..Mom turned and made a dramatic exit out of the room...My father stood up, pushing his chair hard against the floor. He, too, flung his dish into the sink and left the kitchen. I got up myself: Dinner seemed to be over. I picked up my plate. Maybe it was a new ritual, flinging plates, like breaking wineglasses at a wedding. To fling or not to fling? I walked across the kitchen and put my plate in the sink quietly." Again, Alison is a mature person for her age. It's definitely worth reading.

this is a great book. it reads fast, good and true.

it reminded me so much of my own childhood, my zany parents and how they were so busy entertaining and being giant children themselves. my sister and i just floated around. landing often on the top of the basement stairs, waiting and watching the parties (and finishing off the left over drinks). i had not been back there in a long while. i'm not sure she will ever go back.

the characaters in this book feel so real, i especailly love that sham of a shaman, tut. and alison's tender relationship with kate. her struggles with feeling o.k. i her own skin, coming into her won and finding a place to be whole. the scenes are funny, sad, vivid and very, very honest. plus there is that horse thing we all had.

this book reads like a breeze and is just like the high school i remember. i recall that madness, wanting so to fit in and be liked. this book makes me glad to be grown and done. i had forgotten those feelings, maybe they are the ones that are meant to be forgotten, but i am glad to have had them drummed up again for me to take a gander at.

i love the small story within this story too - it's told in a very inventive way. weaving thought the book. this creates an interesting tie to the past. it uncovers even more strength in young women.

thanks for the amazing book.

I loved this book. On one hand, it's delicately sensitive narrative that captures an extraordinary girl who heroically deals with some extraordinary circumstances of her early teens: a challenging illness, a change of scenery, a needy new best friend, a fully dysfunctional family. But wait... this also is a laugh-out-loud funny tale that captures the zany zeitgeist of the '70s. (Guarantee: Once you meet Tut Hamilton, you won't soon forget him.) Sheehan is an elegant stylist whose force of writing manages to hold all these bits and pieces together in an eminently readable book.

Great book! Takes you right back to what it was like being in middle school, and being a thirteen year old girl. Aurelie has the ability to transform the reader into life as you were when you were thirteen, she also gives you the ability to feel the simple focus on the struggles of life as a thirteen year old. I was taken straight back to my life, my troubled friends, and the self absorbed concerns you endure as a young individual. Fast, fun, easy read with a bit of heartbreak!

In 1975 thirteen years old Alison Glass moved with her parents and her horse Jazz to suburban Weston, Connecticut. She has problems blending in with the affluent locals partly because her parents are hippy artists and more so because of her scoliosis back brace.

Alison expects to be ignored at best and abused at norm by her peers, which she finds amusing. Instead she meets popular Kate Hamilton, the daughter of an abusive cocaine using New Age shaman father and a substance using mother. They hit it off as both love horseback riding and a need to escape their home lives. Their afternoon rides enable both of them to escape wide parental mood swings from excessive violence to oblivious ignorance and an additional escape from the brace for Alison.

This is a well written but depressing coming of age tale starring two teens with monster problems brought on by dysfunctional abusive parenting. Alison's parents are splitting even as her mother dumps new age elixirs down her throat and surgery seems imminent; Kate's father Tut is a violent cocaine user whose wife hides in a drug stupor so that she can ignore his abusive excesses towards their daughter. Readers will feel empathy for the two friends as riding horses together is the only escape from the dismal suburban family life.

Harriet Klausner

One good thing I can say about this book is Sheehan can use language. She writes like a poet and I appreciated her imagery.

However, this book was not well structured. I never understood what the "History Lesson" was supposed to be. Furthermore, Alison says in the beginning of the book that Kate "saved" her life. But I never saw Kate as anything but a pretty destructive, selfish force. She really seemed wrapped up in her own turmoil and did not look very far outside herself. I could never connect with her. Actually, I could never connect with ANY of the characters. They all seemed either really spineless or incredibly self-absorbed. The only character I liked was the deaf, Irish grandmother. Alison was whiny; Kate was superficial; Chris Glass was weak and ineffectual at everything; Clare Glass was pretty selfish and blind; as for Tut and Shana Hamilton they were such bad people that they came off as really fake. I didn't feel sympathy for anyone!

The whole ending was rushed and never tied anything up--I was left confused and wondering "what was the point of all this?" Expressive language aside, this book was sloppy storytelling and I was disappointed.

It's 1975 and Alison Glass has moved to Connecticut and is the new kid on the block. Being the new girl at a small school is hard enough, but Alison has scoliosis and is in a back brace. Alison is befriended by Kate Hamilton, a sweet, kind girl. They become great friends, enjoying each other's company and a love of their horses, Jazz and Peach.

Remember, it is the 70's, when sex, drugs, and rock and roll were openly acceptable. Alison's mom is an artist and her dad is a poet. Kate's mom is totally into shopping and drugs and her dad is an author and world famous "shaman", a new age type guru.

I liked Alison's parents, although I found them weak. Kate's mom was OK, she seemed to be surpressed and under her husband's thumb. I could not stand her father; to me he seemed to be a know-it-all, big mouth, and was very, very abusive to his wife and children, both mentally and physically. What a creep!

The author tells her tale of the two girls and their parents very well, this is a good book. She touches on Alison's scoliosis and your heart will go out to Alison and all others who have to deal with this heart-breaking condition. Alison's family rallies around her during her doctor visits and have their hopes high for her to not have to have surgery. Poor Alison, wearing her brace constantly and being stared at and picked on because of it.

The story evolves around these characters through health problems, holidays, the girls becoming true friends, their school days, and their parents. It has a good plot and reads well. There are some heart breaking parts of the book that will surprise and shock you. Kate and Alison's friendship will bring back memories of your teenage years, spending time in your room with your best friend, talking, listening to music, and doing homework.

Read this book. Even though there are some truly sad situations, you will find it entertaining and eye-opening, and if you are a "flower child", it will bring back great memories!

Thank you!! Pam

I have been a fan of Aurelie Sheehan's work for many years, enjoying her lyrical prose and deep insights. Now, with History Lesson for Girls, I'm delighted to discover that she has turned a corner and written a page turner - an engrossing work on many levels.Told with true affection, Sheehan is able to show us the humor in even the direst family situation, yet never exploits her characters.History Lesson is reminiscent of The Ice Storm in that they both include the period of the 1970s as a character. For those of us who came of age during the me generation we will recognize the landscape that Sheehan has depicted. For those who haven't, it is indeed a most enjoyable history lesson.