Local Girls; - 1st Edition/1st Printing

An evocative anthology of interconnected short stories captures the lives and destinies of the Samuelsons, a family struggling with tragedy and divorce, in a series of portraits that chronicle Gretel Samuelson's journey through betrayal, grief, conflicting loyalties, friendship, and loss. 50,000 first printing. Tour.

YA-Gretel Samuelson's coming-of-age in a lower middle-class suburban area of Long Island is portrayed in brief, episodic vignettes of tumultuous tragedy and outstanding ordinariness loosely strung together. They begin when the protagonist is 12 and end as she enters college. The dysfunctional elements are the stuff of soap operas: father divorces mother for younger woman, mother dies of cancer, lively and audacious cousin makes a series of unwise romantic choices, gifted Harvard-bound brother ODs on heroin, and beautiful and brilliant best friend becomes pregnant. What raises all of this above the mediocre is the intimacy and immediacy of the narrative voice. Whether it is the cynical yet sweet first-person account by Gretel or the hopelessly romantic third-person voice of Cousin Margo, the effect is the same-palpable, recognizable angst and "smile-through-your-tears" humor. The language is wisecracking, scintillating, descriptive, and honest. Female readers will recognize and respond to the themes of relationships: those with men who all too often disappoint and those between friends and mothers and daughters that nourish and endure.
Jackie Gropman, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This series of vignettes about Gretel Samuelson's teenage years is told with wisecracking humor and poignant honesty. A book that's sure to strike an empathetic chord with readers. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.