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The Purple Hat Gang
1961 --- when the world was a nicer place....or so it seemed. The plot follows the lives of five girls - Dee Ann, Mary Ellen, Myra, Kate and Julie through the last few weeks of their final year in grade school as the realization that their new teenage lives are about to take them their separate ways. Friendship, difficult family issues, heartbreaking confessions, boys, separation, young love...any of the rites of passage a soon-to-be teenager faces can be found here. These are five v-e-r-y different girls, yet the ties of friendship and love always seal the gaps. The question that remains Why can't love and friendship seal these same gaps when we grow up? ...And just what do we really lose when we lose our childhood?
Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
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April 30, 2022
In some ways this was not well written. Let me correct that. It was not well edited. It was clearly self-published, multiple exclamation points abound (!!!) there is way too much “ya”s and “goin’”s in the dialogue that are distracting and unnecessary, and the narrator’s asides (“what a sweetheart!”) are already apparent.
And yet this sweet story of five best friends about to graduate eighth grade in 1961 Philadelphia absolutely took me there. The narrator, Julie, describes, no shows us, a month or so in the lives of her and her four best friends. This includes their real and honest family trials and tribulations (alcoholism, emotional neglect, illness, poverty), the positive impact of various teachers and neighbors, their first crushes and loves, and above all their bond with each other (about one third of the book takes place at a slumber party) in a fresh and immediate way that made me feel I was standing there beside them.
The author was clearly writing a love letter to the memories and friends of her youth. As love letters can be it was at times sappy, idealized, and very personal. But it was also genuine, heartfelt and deliciously detailed. I thank her for sharing it with us.
And yet this sweet story of five best friends about to graduate eighth grade in 1961 Philadelphia absolutely took me there. The narrator, Julie, describes, no shows us, a month or so in the lives of her and her four best friends. This includes their real and honest family trials and tribulations (alcoholism, emotional neglect, illness, poverty), the positive impact of various teachers and neighbors, their first crushes and loves, and above all their bond with each other (about one third of the book takes place at a slumber party) in a fresh and immediate way that made me feel I was standing there beside them.
The author was clearly writing a love letter to the memories and friends of her youth. As love letters can be it was at times sappy, idealized, and very personal. But it was also genuine, heartfelt and deliciously detailed. I thank her for sharing it with us.
Displaying 1 of 1 review