7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read, February 29, 2000
Although the beginning was slow, this book was captivating once I got into it. It has so many metaphors for life lessons that it keeps you busy thinking. It did have many typos which I feel could have been prevented. However I do not agree with the other reader who said it's all describing volleyball games, so if you don't like the game, it's not a good book. I'm not a big volleyball person, but I thought the description of their games was great. Furthermore, if all you see in this book is three girls who play volleyball, you didn't read it correctly.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book for *older* teens and adults, June 5, 2000
By A Customer
I suspect younger ones will be bored silly, or at least that much of the book will go over their heads. This is one of two books that I can remember (the other was Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451) that my parents requested me to wait until I was older to try to read. I'm glad I listened.
I saw the three roommates as the manifestation of Mind (Ann), Body (Niki) and Spirit (Hildy). Although they are so different that it seems that they won't get along, their differences are complementary rather than necessarily antagonistic.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One I always recommend, October 22, 2010
I read this book in my early 20s and it amazed me, and it continues to do so. I gave copies to all the girls I used to baby-sit for when they reached about 14 or 15.
The introduction tells you that these girls are not contemporary, but from a more innocent time -- during the Kennedy Administration. They are in an all-girls' school, which also allows the focus to be on aspects of growing up female other than boys and dates, although sex is discussed.
Ann, the central character, knows who she is (translating Greek for fun!) but she is very insecure and embarassed about it. Her roommates, Hildy and Niki, are both very secure but very opposite from each other. The thing I like best about the book is that it explores different ways of being a human person, being a woman, having an intellectual life, competing in sports, relating in a group, etc. We follow Ann as she experiences more human variety than ever before and allows herself to choose to change some parts of herself, keep others.
So I love how it models self-discovery, and *thinking* about who are you, and who you might want to be. It's a kind of self-exploration that I have seen very, very rarely in writing for young women.
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