Jo's Girls: Tomboy Tales of High Adventure, True Grit, and Real Life [Paperback]

Christian McEwen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0807062111 | ISBN-13: 978-0807062111

Louisa May Alcott's energetic, ambitious, and androgynous Jo March has inspired generations of tomboys. But at the close of Little Women even Jo's valiant tomboy spirit has been subordinated to her role as wife and mother. For Jo's Girls, editor Christian McEwen has assembled a collection of fiction and memoir that looks at what it has really meant to be a tomboy from the nineteenth century to the present-and at what the refusal to turn into a "young lady" has implied.

Contributors include: Toni Cade Bambara, Willa Cather, Sandra Cisneros, Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Alexis De Veaux, Annie Dillard, Nadezhda Durova, Leslie Feinberg, Emily Hiestand, Maria Hinojosa, Teresa Jordan, Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston, Anne LaBastille, Ursula K. Le Guin, Bia Lowe, Carson McCullers, Susan Moon, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Grace Paley, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Rose Tremain, Frances Willard, Opal Whiteley, Virginia Woolf

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Christian McEwen's introduction to this anthology examines the different origins of the word "tomboy," from a "high spirited romping girl" to a "bold or immodest" woman or prostitute. Only in the 19th century did the word take on the positive connotations of a girl who took "a wholesome delight in...playing at active games..." and could thus be applied to a girl like Jo March of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. In celebration of Jo-like girls, this anthology gathers more than 30 stories, essays, and prose poems from writers as diverse as Colette and Leslie Feinberg, Virginia Woolf and Linda Smukler, that describe the sometimes pre-dyke state of being a tree climber, a boat rower, a happy ruffian. This wide-ranging collection makes a strong case for the historical longevity of boyish, lesbian-in- the-making girls.

From School Library Journal

YA?A nicely varied, well-edited collection of fiction and memoir that shows the cost, loss, and gain for girls who have chosen the role of "Tomboy" from the 19th-century to the present day. The anthology is broken down into age categories. "Tombabies" contains writings about the stirrings of curiosity and exuberance in young female children. An excerpt from the purported diary of Opal Whiteley is included in the six selections. "Tomboys" includes stories and segments about preadolecent girls by such distinguished authors as Annie Dillard, Simone deBeauvoir, Ursula LeGuin, Toni Morrison, and Jamaica Kincaid. Subsequent sections, "On the Threshold" and "Out the Other Side," carry the strong child into womanhood. Toni Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love" is here, as are a portion of Maxine Hong Kingston's "Woman Warrior" and the beginning of Carson McCullers's "Member of the Wedding." Very current selections, such as Maria Hinojosa's "Crews," a study of Puerto Rican girl gangsters, and Leslie Feinberg's "Stone Butch Blues" appear along with pieces by Colette, Willa Cather, and Virginia Woolf dealing with lesbianism and the newer aspects of sexuality and career.?Frances Reiher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (June 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807062111
• ISBN-13: 978-0807062111
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jo's Girls - True to Life?, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jo's Girls: Tomboy Tales of High Adventure, True Grit, and Real Life (Paperback)

I picked up this book as the title reminded of one of my favorite childhood reads. I always considered myself as a "Jo March-esque" child and loved the tomboy ideas. However, I kept reading because the stories are strongly written and kept me thinking of the last heroine well into the next story. The whirlwind of experiences is a delight to read and I devoured them all!

Once I started to read one particular story, however, I was hooked. The short story of one woman returning to her childhood summer camp rang true. I now work full-time at that camp and I am excited to say that although things have changed, and will continue to do so, the ideologies of camping have remained the same.

The entire book was well-written as well as entertaining. It is an inspiration to know that women throughout the century have been struggling with the same misconceptions as we do.

A great read and a book that keep you thinking well after the cover is closed.