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Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing up in the 1970s
A memoir set against the backdrop of the 1970s deep South recounts the author's life from the age of twelve through eighteen, as she draws on letters, diaries, and notebooks of the period to explore the challenges and questions of adolescence.
265 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2006
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765 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
November 5, 2007
It's a good idea - republishing journal entries from those painful teenage years - except the journals had nothing in them. Most entries were just one line. I didn't get a sense of the author at that time, except she was insufferable.
December 6, 2007
There are few things I can think of that are more self indulgent than publishing your diary from 7th through 12th grades. Seriously. I mean, who wants to read that? Well, apparently, me. This book is Margaret Sartor's unadulterated (I think) diary from those years of her life, in the 1970s, in Louisiana. While interesting things may have been happening in her state and in the country, most of them were not happening to her. Mostly, her entries are about her friends, with whom she's never close enough, her boyfriends, with whom she's often too close, her family, who are pretty garden-variety fucked-up, and her on-again off-again relationship with God. And how frizzy her hair is. I'd say it's about 10% about her relationship with her hair. And yet it's weirdly interesting, particularly in the age of the blog, when (assumedly) this kind of unabashedly self-centered private rambling is out of vogue. It's a really quick read (it took maybe an hour and a half all together?) and is definitely more entertaining than it should be, at least if you're the voyeur type. It also got me started on old-fashioned by-hand journaling again. Who knows if that will last.
February 1, 2008
It's just so wonderful to see the combination of major events with little personal ones. One entry read "President Nixon resigned; made an appointment to get my hair cut." I've already returned the book to the library, so I can't quote much more than that, but there were hundreds of entries that I just adored. Dozens of them had me nodding to myself and thinking "I know exactly what she means" and "I thought I was the only one who'd ever thought that." I was astounded that anyone else had ever had that crazy urge and fear to put their hand down the running disposal. "Washing food down the disposal is like standing on the edge of a cliff," she says, "which naturally makes you think about jumping off." Exactly!
She captures the ups and down of being a teenager perfectly; it really is the kind of journal you can imagine any teenager, yourself or one you know, writing. One day it's "Everything is wonderful" and the next "I'm just so depressed." She struggles to get along with her parents, desperate for their praise, but also just wanting to be alone. No one understands how very important it is that she make the dance team (made all to evident when her sister suggests she not try out and help their pregnant mother more). And there are boys, of course. She's very pretty (although she doesn't seem to think so); she is also devoutly religious, of her own accord beginning in middle school, and that's a bit aggravating to several of her boyfriends. She's an excellent student and bothered that the teachers hassle her when she's already acing all her classes. By the end of the book, she is anxious to go away to college, to get a new start, and to find new friends.
Read my complete reivew at: http://everydayreading.blogspot.com/2...
She captures the ups and down of being a teenager perfectly; it really is the kind of journal you can imagine any teenager, yourself or one you know, writing. One day it's "Everything is wonderful" and the next "I'm just so depressed." She struggles to get along with her parents, desperate for their praise, but also just wanting to be alone. No one understands how very important it is that she make the dance team (made all to evident when her sister suggests she not try out and help their pregnant mother more). And there are boys, of course. She's very pretty (although she doesn't seem to think so); she is also devoutly religious, of her own accord beginning in middle school, and that's a bit aggravating to several of her boyfriends. She's an excellent student and bothered that the teachers hassle her when she's already acing all her classes. By the end of the book, she is anxious to go away to college, to get a new start, and to find new friends.
Read my complete reivew at: http://everydayreading.blogspot.com/2...
November 24, 2007
I suppose in this "reality" obsessed culture we now live in anybody can get their diary published and have it lauded as an important piece of modern literature or a work of brilliance or any of the myriad cliched accolades critics vomit up.
Well I don't get it. Miss American Pie is a dull, dull, dull read. The forward is promising and I thought Sartor's teenage musings would be profound or intriguing or at the least interesting but it's not. Sartor is a spoiled rich kid whose father is a doctor and mother is an artist. She has several horses, equally well off friends and an obviously successful future ahead of her.
Her diary entries, if you can call them that, average two to three sentences at the most. Entries range from "May 20: I feel really bad," to "February 6: BAD headache today," to "April 1: Stella is unhappy at her job". She mopes around because she thinks she's ugly or because her best friend likes a guy she likes or because her hair is frizzy. There isn't anything of substance to make this a worthwhile read or shed some new light on adolescence. I understand it's a diary of a teenage girl but it's still boring.
If a diary is to be published, it should be dynamic, intriguing, shedding new light on the protagonist or a particular situation or a period of time. Miss American Pie fails on all counts. It doesn't help that no one has a clue who Margaret Sartor is either.
Miss American Pie could have been more effective if it was written as an actual memoir instead of the dull, dull, ramblings of a teenage girl's diary.
Well I don't get it. Miss American Pie is a dull, dull, dull read. The forward is promising and I thought Sartor's teenage musings would be profound or intriguing or at the least interesting but it's not. Sartor is a spoiled rich kid whose father is a doctor and mother is an artist. She has several horses, equally well off friends and an obviously successful future ahead of her.
Her diary entries, if you can call them that, average two to three sentences at the most. Entries range from "May 20: I feel really bad," to "February 6: BAD headache today," to "April 1: Stella is unhappy at her job". She mopes around because she thinks she's ugly or because her best friend likes a guy she likes or because her hair is frizzy. There isn't anything of substance to make this a worthwhile read or shed some new light on adolescence. I understand it's a diary of a teenage girl but it's still boring.
If a diary is to be published, it should be dynamic, intriguing, shedding new light on the protagonist or a particular situation or a period of time. Miss American Pie fails on all counts. It doesn't help that no one has a clue who Margaret Sartor is either.
Miss American Pie could have been more effective if it was written as an actual memoir instead of the dull, dull, ramblings of a teenage girl's diary.
May 30, 2011
Other than a brief intro chapter and an epilogue, it's all diary entries from the author's high school years in the 1970's in Louisiana. To some extent I probably enjoyed it by virtue of our being nearly the same age (hey, I remember the day Elvis died, when Nixon resigned, when Carter was elected.......; and I recognized every song she alludes to in the diaries), but beyond that there was something compelling about her painfully self-conscious accounts of the daily ups and downs of adolescence. As a Dad, I felt like reaching back through the years and assuring her that it won't matter in the long run to make the cheerleading team this year vs. next year, that the boy who started flirting with her friend wasn't right for her anyway, that she need not try to solve her parents' relationship with each other, and on and on.
Some of the material on school desegregation is fairly era- and location-specific, and she was a lot more into her evangelical Church than most teenagers, but much of the material on school, family, and sexual identity development will resonate with a high percentage of adult readers I suspect.
The concluding discussion of what a slog it was to edit, how many people helped her, and so forth was puzzling -- they're just reprinted diary entries, not something you had to polish up, right? But maybe she means the process of deciding which ones to include/exclude.
I can see from reading the other reviews on goodreads that a decent number of people disagree with me and hated it, but I'll stand by the view that it was a highly engaging memoir.
Some of the material on school desegregation is fairly era- and location-specific, and she was a lot more into her evangelical Church than most teenagers, but much of the material on school, family, and sexual identity development will resonate with a high percentage of adult readers I suspect.
The concluding discussion of what a slog it was to edit, how many people helped her, and so forth was puzzling -- they're just reprinted diary entries, not something you had to polish up, right? But maybe she means the process of deciding which ones to include/exclude.
I can see from reading the other reviews on goodreads that a decent number of people disagree with me and hated it, but I'll stand by the view that it was a highly engaging memoir.
April 6, 2009
I'm kind of surprised that this book got a book contract, to be honest.
I would have enjoyed this more had it been written as a memoir. The raw text (if that's what it was) of this teenager's diary just didn't hold me--especially since early on many of the entries were only a sentence or two. I appreciated the foreword and afterword which gave more context, but the afterword in particular was a turnoff, since it really underscored the self-centeredness of the author, who seemed more concerned with reading an ex-boyfriend's old letters to see what they said about her than with the obviously far more complicated dynamics involved in her gay best friend's refusal to let her read those letters (her boyfriend having been a close friend of her friend's until he came out). By the end of the book I was much more interested in the friendship between the two boys than in the author's memories of either boy.
I would have enjoyed this more had it been written as a memoir. The raw text (if that's what it was) of this teenager's diary just didn't hold me--especially since early on many of the entries were only a sentence or two. I appreciated the foreword and afterword which gave more context, but the afterword in particular was a turnoff, since it really underscored the self-centeredness of the author, who seemed more concerned with reading an ex-boyfriend's old letters to see what they said about her than with the obviously far more complicated dynamics involved in her gay best friend's refusal to let her read those letters (her boyfriend having been a close friend of her friend's until he came out). By the end of the book I was much more interested in the friendship between the two boys than in the author's memories of either boy.
November 13, 2008
Achingly familiar chronicle of adolescent angst. Refreshingly, this is not put out by a celebrity or established author but rather a common southern gal. Because the diary entries are unedited they run the gamut from the mundane observation (Sometimes I hum when I pee.) to more serious issues (suicide, homosexuality, divorce.) Sartor does offer a preface to orient the reader as well as a heartfelt epilogue with updates on the "cast of characters" depicted in her diary entries. The early years bore a striking resemblance to my own brief attempts to chronicle my life (primarily one liners) and I am quite certain most anyone who has survived the teenage years will recognize the confusion and awkwardness that dominate that era.
July 26, 2007
Sartor’s memoir is composed of actual entries from the diaries she kept between the ages of twelve and seventeen. On the surface, this glimpse into the psyche of a struggling teenager is at times funny and heartbreaking. But it is also a fabulous book for meditators. I walked away from it with a profound understanding of not only the universality of human experience (or at least, the teenage American female human experience) but also a visceral understanding of the highly transient nature of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
November 1, 2018
Who would have guessed that a memoir comprised of a collection of diary entries would tell such an entertaining and relatable story and make for such a good read!
From 1972 to 1977, we get a glimpse of a teenage girl’s life told primarily through her daily diary entries. Margaret Sartor comes off as an incredibly witty and charming person, though she often sees herself as lost, confused, complicated and insecure – but which teenage girl isn’t some (or all) of these things?
Despite her constant confusion and frustration with herself (and others), Margaret seems to be very self-aware and mature for her age, something her parents seemed to be mindful of too. Margaret’s personality shines throughout the book and it’s easy to see her transformation from her fourteen year-old self to her eighteen year-old self. Plus, her diary entries not only show how she manages relationships with the people around her, but they also give readers a taste of what it was like growing up in the 1970s. I’m sure older generations can connect with the events mentioned in the book much more than I can, but it was still captivating to be exposed to a society so different, yet so similar, to the one we see today.
Coincidentally, this memoir has really made me wish I had kept a consistent journal growing up so I can have a sold paper trail to look back on to refresh my memory of what it felt like to be a dazed teenager (luckily, I kept a few “summer journals” during my early teenage years that I’ll have to dig through dusty boxes to find).
From 1972 to 1977, we get a glimpse of a teenage girl’s life told primarily through her daily diary entries. Margaret Sartor comes off as an incredibly witty and charming person, though she often sees herself as lost, confused, complicated and insecure – but which teenage girl isn’t some (or all) of these things?
Despite her constant confusion and frustration with herself (and others), Margaret seems to be very self-aware and mature for her age, something her parents seemed to be mindful of too. Margaret’s personality shines throughout the book and it’s easy to see her transformation from her fourteen year-old self to her eighteen year-old self. Plus, her diary entries not only show how she manages relationships with the people around her, but they also give readers a taste of what it was like growing up in the 1970s. I’m sure older generations can connect with the events mentioned in the book much more than I can, but it was still captivating to be exposed to a society so different, yet so similar, to the one we see today.
Coincidentally, this memoir has really made me wish I had kept a consistent journal growing up so I can have a sold paper trail to look back on to refresh my memory of what it felt like to be a dazed teenager (luckily, I kept a few “summer journals” during my early teenage years that I’ll have to dig through dusty boxes to find).
June 3, 2019
3.5/5 stars
This book is a delight! Margaret Sartor exposes some of the most vulnerable parts of her adolescent self in the publication of her journals from her younger years. It’s raw and painful, and in reading it, I was taken back to my own high school days when I felt and thought very similar things. What makes this even more interesting is that I was a teenager during the 2010s, yet I related so much to 1970s teenage Sartor. In some ways, humans really don’t change at all.
I always find it annoying when people give bad reviews to published diaries because the complaints are usually about it being “boring.” Well, no shit, this was someone’s private diary, and they never thought it would be published. It’s about their life in real time, not the enjoyment of the reader. So my lower rating here doesn’t come from that because God knows I am in no place to judge a teen girl’s inner feelings when they’re published decades later. My lower rating is due to the lack of pictures! I was so invested in all of these people, and I wanted to see more pictures of them. I get that there were privacy issues and all of that, but I still would have loved to see more of Margaret. Also, the Author’s Note in the beginning could’ve been pushed to the back with the Epilogue. So the organization of that wasn’t as smooth as I feel it could have been.
If you’ve ever been a teenager in pain, then this publication of journals will definitely bring you back to those years with a nostalgic kind of pain!
This book is a delight! Margaret Sartor exposes some of the most vulnerable parts of her adolescent self in the publication of her journals from her younger years. It’s raw and painful, and in reading it, I was taken back to my own high school days when I felt and thought very similar things. What makes this even more interesting is that I was a teenager during the 2010s, yet I related so much to 1970s teenage Sartor. In some ways, humans really don’t change at all.
I always find it annoying when people give bad reviews to published diaries because the complaints are usually about it being “boring.” Well, no shit, this was someone’s private diary, and they never thought it would be published. It’s about their life in real time, not the enjoyment of the reader. So my lower rating here doesn’t come from that because God knows I am in no place to judge a teen girl’s inner feelings when they’re published decades later. My lower rating is due to the lack of pictures! I was so invested in all of these people, and I wanted to see more pictures of them. I get that there were privacy issues and all of that, but I still would have loved to see more of Margaret. Also, the Author’s Note in the beginning could’ve been pushed to the back with the Epilogue. So the organization of that wasn’t as smooth as I feel it could have been.
If you’ve ever been a teenager in pain, then this publication of journals will definitely bring you back to those years with a nostalgic kind of pain!
February 22, 2018
Caroline Hart
February 22, 2018
5th Period
Author’s Background
Margaret Sartor was born and raised in Louisiana. She graduated from the University of North Carolina and is currently a teacher at Duke University. She is married to Alex Harris and has two children, Will and Eliza. Her most known book is Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing up in the 1970’s.
Literary Time Period
This book was written in 2006, with the story being based in the 1970’s in Louisiana.
Setting
This book is based in Monroe, Louisiana. This story of Margaret’s life took place throughout the 1970’s and some into the 1980’s.
Characters
Margaret Sartor- Margaret is the main character of this book. She is an awkward, shy teenage girl that is trying to grow up as fast as she can. She has many struggles with school, boys, and family. It all seems to be crashing down on her, but she knows that it will all be okay.
Evan- Evan is Margaret’s best friend. He is from Monroe, Louisiana, the same as Margaret. They have grown up together and they were pretty much inseparable when they were younger. As they grow older, then start growing apart more. Evan starts getting new friends and girlfriends, while Margaret is still in her awkward stages. They eventually reconnect and become good friends with?
Themes
A main theme of this book is perseverance. Margaret went through many ups and downs in her life, but she always pushed through them and eventually got past her teenage problems.
Fearing to fail is another major theme. Margaret was always pushing herself to try and be the most perfect she could be. She was always comparing herself to her friends and the people around her, because she was never proud enough of herself.
Plot Summary
In the 7th grade, Margaret Sartor started a diary. She put entries in as often as she can, some things big some things small. All around her, things were changing dramatically. Girls and boys had started dating, new churches were coming about, high schools had started integrating. The divorce rates were nearly nonexistent in her town, but things were starting to change their, too. Many people were becoming “hippies” and becoming too carefree for their own good. This interested Margaret to no ends. She was always curious about what life was like outside of her little town. She couldn’t find out until after high school was over, which seemed like forever and a half for her. This book gives you a great understanding about how like in the 70’s was for a young girl.
Literary Devices
Dialogue- In this book, Margaret puts many conversations she has with her family, friends, and even people she doesn’t get along with.
Mood/Atmosphere- This is major in this book. Margaret is a very emotional young teenage girl so her moods are all over the place the entire book.
Memorable Quotes
“Our job on earth, as I see it, is to hold on through the hard parts and try and be a good person.” This quote is very important because she is realizing that life still goes on, even if it gets tough sometimes.
“I've been praying to Jesus and the Holy Ghost for patience and I have also mentioned that it would help if I did not have frizzy hair.” This quote pretty much defines the entire journal.
February 22, 2018
5th Period
Author’s Background
Margaret Sartor was born and raised in Louisiana. She graduated from the University of North Carolina and is currently a teacher at Duke University. She is married to Alex Harris and has two children, Will and Eliza. Her most known book is Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing up in the 1970’s.
Literary Time Period
This book was written in 2006, with the story being based in the 1970’s in Louisiana.
Setting
This book is based in Monroe, Louisiana. This story of Margaret’s life took place throughout the 1970’s and some into the 1980’s.
Characters
Margaret Sartor- Margaret is the main character of this book. She is an awkward, shy teenage girl that is trying to grow up as fast as she can. She has many struggles with school, boys, and family. It all seems to be crashing down on her, but she knows that it will all be okay.
Evan- Evan is Margaret’s best friend. He is from Monroe, Louisiana, the same as Margaret. They have grown up together and they were pretty much inseparable when they were younger. As they grow older, then start growing apart more. Evan starts getting new friends and girlfriends, while Margaret is still in her awkward stages. They eventually reconnect and become good friends with?
Themes
A main theme of this book is perseverance. Margaret went through many ups and downs in her life, but she always pushed through them and eventually got past her teenage problems.
Fearing to fail is another major theme. Margaret was always pushing herself to try and be the most perfect she could be. She was always comparing herself to her friends and the people around her, because she was never proud enough of herself.
Plot Summary
In the 7th grade, Margaret Sartor started a diary. She put entries in as often as she can, some things big some things small. All around her, things were changing dramatically. Girls and boys had started dating, new churches were coming about, high schools had started integrating. The divorce rates were nearly nonexistent in her town, but things were starting to change their, too. Many people were becoming “hippies” and becoming too carefree for their own good. This interested Margaret to no ends. She was always curious about what life was like outside of her little town. She couldn’t find out until after high school was over, which seemed like forever and a half for her. This book gives you a great understanding about how like in the 70’s was for a young girl.
Literary Devices
Dialogue- In this book, Margaret puts many conversations she has with her family, friends, and even people she doesn’t get along with.
Mood/Atmosphere- This is major in this book. Margaret is a very emotional young teenage girl so her moods are all over the place the entire book.
Memorable Quotes
“Our job on earth, as I see it, is to hold on through the hard parts and try and be a good person.” This quote is very important because she is realizing that life still goes on, even if it gets tough sometimes.
“I've been praying to Jesus and the Holy Ghost for patience and I have also mentioned that it would help if I did not have frizzy hair.” This quote pretty much defines the entire journal.
February 6, 2018
Miss American Pie does a brilliant job of conveying what it's like to be a teenager: the wildly cascading emotions; the sometimes painful self-absorption; and the often crushing loneliness. As Margaret Sartor explains in the introduction to the book, "None of us is prepared for the hormonal heresy of puberty, and each of us finds our own particular way of getting through it."
What makes this book so powerful and raw is the authenticity and vulnerability of its author -- the fact that the reader is being invited to step inside her head as she journeys through the teen years. As Sartor explains: "A diary has none of the sweetness of nostalgia and little to do with the sentiments that lock certain moments into the past work of the mind's eye to become a memory. A diary is not about the past; it's about the present, a record of precisely what you are getting through or over, trying to savour or avoid, at the very moment you are doing it. If memory stores the spirit of our experiences, then a diary, in its bona fide physical existence, surely retains the flesh and blood."
Beautifully said.
What makes this book so powerful and raw is the authenticity and vulnerability of its author -- the fact that the reader is being invited to step inside her head as she journeys through the teen years. As Sartor explains: "A diary has none of the sweetness of nostalgia and little to do with the sentiments that lock certain moments into the past work of the mind's eye to become a memory. A diary is not about the past; it's about the present, a record of precisely what you are getting through or over, trying to savour or avoid, at the very moment you are doing it. If memory stores the spirit of our experiences, then a diary, in its bona fide physical existence, surely retains the flesh and blood."
Beautifully said.
July 3, 2010
Some of the entries in this memoir (taken from Sartor's old diaries) are hilarious--one day she's miserable, the next day she's deliriously happy. I really appreciate Sartor or whomever helped her edit those old journal entries--for the most part, entries consist of a sentence or so.
While it was definitely a trip down memory lane to re-live the angst of mean girls, frizzy hair, and boys, boys, boys, did I really want to go back to middle school/high school? Only ever so briefly.
While it was definitely a trip down memory lane to re-live the angst of mean girls, frizzy hair, and boys, boys, boys, did I really want to go back to middle school/high school? Only ever so briefly.
July 14, 2008
This is a great memoir of a girl who grew up in the late 70's. She turned her diary from 8th through 12th grade into a book. The book is made up of her diary entries so it is a really quick read. I am a diary writer myself and could really relate to the teenage angst she shared. I loved that she later told what happened to all the people she wrote about and what they are doing now.
October 16, 2017
yuck. just boring.
March 29, 2018
I finished it because I started it, but I never really cared about the author, her family, or her friends.
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November 1, 2019“Why does it scare me to think I might be ordinary? I remember when I started first grade and I could hardly pay attention for fear I wouldn't learn to read and write. I didn't want to be like everyone else. I didn't want to have to learn. I wanted to know everything already,”Margaret wants to be different than everyone else and living an ordinary life scares her. "Miss American Pie," an autobiography about Margaret Sator's life as a teen in the 1970's. Margaret, the author, shares stories in her diary about growing up and developing in such an awkward time of her life. Rural Louisiana has changed a lot since the 1970's, which is the setting of this book. In Margaret’s time, sex was unspoken, drugs were exotic, and religion is what built the whole community and made it stronger. Entering high school and meeting new friends and trying to fit in, Margaret tried things she wasn’t allowed to do. Due to these unfortunate factors, readers get to read about how Margaret slowly losing her innocence throughout her diary.
In the 1970's, drugs were exotic, but people like Margaret still tried it as a teenager. “Been smoking lately but decided to give it up”(28). This is a very important part in the book because it is one of the reasons to prove how she loses her innocence slowly, and how it affects her later on in the book. I don’t like her choice on the usage of drugs, but she is curious and wants to try new things. She later on relapses and starts smoking and drinking again with Wanda, one of her closest friends, and Pam. I don’t really like Wanda or Pam because they aren’t good influences on Margaret.“Wanda spent the night. We drank vodka, gin, bourbon with Tab, and smoked a joint”(33). “Rode with Pam in the woods & had two glasses of vodka and orange juice, which is screwballs”(34). Thirteen years old, and drinking vodka, screwballs, gin , bourbon tabs, and smoking weed. Her closest friends are changing her more than she is to them. She is being influenced and molded into a completely different person and for her to get back and be better, will be a struggle for her. Religion is impacting Margaret in her high school years. She grew up religious and slowly drifted out as she got older. She now wants to change and have a spiritual connection with God, but feels her sins and actions are drifting her away from that. “I want to be happy and love God but I don’t know how to”(46). She goes to this church event to meet with this boy she loves, Edgar Napoleon, but she has a very emotional event happen to her. “ I went to church youth group because I wanted to see E.N. but he wasn’t there. A college girl named Brenda testified and talked about finding peace and direction in your life. When I got home I cried”(46). Sometimes in life we go places hoping for something, but another thing pops up. She went to the youth group event hoping to meet with Edgar, but instead had a very inspirational encounter in her life that she needed to hear. She grows stronger and stronger each year, evincing all the temptations she once was so tempted to do. She sleeps in peace knowing that she is enough and doesn’t need to prove her capabilities or worth. I love how towards the end of the book she grows off to a better person than she was, and she evolves spirituality. She is religiously stronger and better. “My love and faith in God is the most certain pleasure of my life”(177).
Overall, Miss American Pie provides a very responsive mentality from teenagers due to there empathy towards innocence. As a reader, because this book focuses on adolescents, it is highly recommended for teens. The reason being, it’s centered around life in development with the consumption of different aspects of the world. We see Margaret evolve from better to worse, from worse to better. We all evolve and go through the same things she did. As time goes by, the characters develop and so does their surroundings and ethics. Drugs, sex, and religion become a more well spoken subject in everyone's day to day life.
In the 1970's, drugs were exotic, but people like Margaret still tried it as a teenager. “Been smoking lately but decided to give it up”(28). This is a very important part in the book because it is one of the reasons to prove how she loses her innocence slowly, and how it affects her later on in the book. I don’t like her choice on the usage of drugs, but she is curious and wants to try new things. She later on relapses and starts smoking and drinking again with Wanda, one of her closest friends, and Pam. I don’t really like Wanda or Pam because they aren’t good influences on Margaret.“Wanda spent the night. We drank vodka, gin, bourbon with Tab, and smoked a joint”(33). “Rode with Pam in the woods & had two glasses of vodka and orange juice, which is screwballs”(34). Thirteen years old, and drinking vodka, screwballs, gin , bourbon tabs, and smoking weed. Her closest friends are changing her more than she is to them. She is being influenced and molded into a completely different person and for her to get back and be better, will be a struggle for her. Religion is impacting Margaret in her high school years. She grew up religious and slowly drifted out as she got older. She now wants to change and have a spiritual connection with God, but feels her sins and actions are drifting her away from that. “I want to be happy and love God but I don’t know how to”(46). She goes to this church event to meet with this boy she loves, Edgar Napoleon, but she has a very emotional event happen to her. “ I went to church youth group because I wanted to see E.N. but he wasn’t there. A college girl named Brenda testified and talked about finding peace and direction in your life. When I got home I cried”(46). Sometimes in life we go places hoping for something, but another thing pops up. She went to the youth group event hoping to meet with Edgar, but instead had a very inspirational encounter in her life that she needed to hear. She grows stronger and stronger each year, evincing all the temptations she once was so tempted to do. She sleeps in peace knowing that she is enough and doesn’t need to prove her capabilities or worth. I love how towards the end of the book she grows off to a better person than she was, and she evolves spirituality. She is religiously stronger and better. “My love and faith in God is the most certain pleasure of my life”(177).
Overall, Miss American Pie provides a very responsive mentality from teenagers due to there empathy towards innocence. As a reader, because this book focuses on adolescents, it is highly recommended for teens. The reason being, it’s centered around life in development with the consumption of different aspects of the world. We see Margaret evolve from better to worse, from worse to better. We all evolve and go through the same things she did. As time goes by, the characters develop and so does their surroundings and ethics. Drugs, sex, and religion become a more well spoken subject in everyone's day to day life.
September 10, 2022
Miss American Pie is a terrific read. Margaret's diary is equally hilarious and heartbreaking as we see her grow as a person and a writer. At first there were short bits like a baby taking her first steps but as she grew older she became more vocal about things going on in her world. She lived in a small town in Louisiana. They knew about what was going on in the world but mostly it didn't affect Margaret personally. Her world was school, her friends, her family and her love life.
My teen years in the '70s were pretty much the same as Margaret's. I was active in school activities, hung out with my cousins and friends, my family life was typical of most terns and yes there was church. That was our lives in those decades. Women could not do much on their own like have a credit card without a husband's approval. Remember the scene in the bar where she could not buy a token to get a free drink? That was more common in do many little ways. Younger women don't seem to understand how quickly their freedoms can be taken from them ir Roe v Wade would not have been overturned I only was interested in politics because one of my uncles was in tte state legislature but I was not that active in protests except for the push for 18 year olds to get the vote. Our friends and families were going off to Vietnam and coming home in coffins. They were old enough to die for our country but couldn't vote. Our efforts are why 18 year olds can be in high school and vote when they turn 18.
I don't look down on Margaret for not becoming involved in the wider world. I tip my hat to her for juggling so many boyfriends! I only had one guy all through high school but we went our own ways after high school. I cried buckets when I heard he died
I also know her heart is in the right place in regards of race and homosexual topics. She never hated anybody except Bonnie Dell and had falling outs with her friends but eventually were friends again.
My personal opinion of why she felt the way she did is because she would argue with someone to wear them down to see her way and agree It was funny and sad and why she didn't see that I don't know. She also seemed to use religion as a crutch and made up her own rules A lot of people do that Sometimes for good and as we have seen in current times, not so good.
I also appreciate the Afterward that caught us up in her life and the people in it. I would love to read her college diaries to see why she went to more than one and what happened at each and how many hearts she broke along tte way .
I think nearly all if us girls and young women in the '60s and '70s were all Miss American Pie. Being a cheerleader or dance team gave us status, a cute boyfriend and dreams of marriage and our own families was the mist important things in our lives. Then Miss American Pue grew up and became interested in more than traditional roles for ourselves.
Brava Margaret! You found yourself!
My teen years in the '70s were pretty much the same as Margaret's. I was active in school activities, hung out with my cousins and friends, my family life was typical of most terns and yes there was church. That was our lives in those decades. Women could not do much on their own like have a credit card without a husband's approval. Remember the scene in the bar where she could not buy a token to get a free drink? That was more common in do many little ways. Younger women don't seem to understand how quickly their freedoms can be taken from them ir Roe v Wade would not have been overturned I only was interested in politics because one of my uncles was in tte state legislature but I was not that active in protests except for the push for 18 year olds to get the vote. Our friends and families were going off to Vietnam and coming home in coffins. They were old enough to die for our country but couldn't vote. Our efforts are why 18 year olds can be in high school and vote when they turn 18.
I don't look down on Margaret for not becoming involved in the wider world. I tip my hat to her for juggling so many boyfriends! I only had one guy all through high school but we went our own ways after high school. I cried buckets when I heard he died
I also know her heart is in the right place in regards of race and homosexual topics. She never hated anybody except Bonnie Dell and had falling outs with her friends but eventually were friends again.
My personal opinion of why she felt the way she did is because she would argue with someone to wear them down to see her way and agree It was funny and sad and why she didn't see that I don't know. She also seemed to use religion as a crutch and made up her own rules A lot of people do that Sometimes for good and as we have seen in current times, not so good.
I also appreciate the Afterward that caught us up in her life and the people in it. I would love to read her college diaries to see why she went to more than one and what happened at each and how many hearts she broke along tte way .
I think nearly all if us girls and young women in the '60s and '70s were all Miss American Pie. Being a cheerleader or dance team gave us status, a cute boyfriend and dreams of marriage and our own families was the mist important things in our lives. Then Miss American Pue grew up and became interested in more than traditional roles for ourselves.
Brava Margaret! You found yourself!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2023
This charming memoir, based on the author’s diaries, letters, and notebooks from her teen years, tells the story of coming of age in the American Deep South of the 1970s. Written in the style of a diary, MISS AMERICAN PIE is a quick read—but not always an easy one.
Sartor started writing in earnest whenever she was grounded by her parents as a young teenager. As she puts it: “I wrote, to no one in particular, about what I thought, saw, dreamed of, overheard, worried over, and obsessed upon: God, sex, and the whole messy endeavor of trying to hold my own and create my own identity.” Her thoughts about these big issues are interspersed with brief weather reports, the titles of the books she’s reading, musings about the day’s dealings with boys, observations about her family, what’s happening with her body—a typical adolescent diary beautifully written by the woman who survived that particular adolescence.
With the 1970s as a backdrop, Sartor��s experiences are framed by the associated societal upheavals—the sexual revolution, desegregation of schools, increasing use of illegal drugs, and the rise of feminism. MISS AMERICAN PIE provides a look back at this unique time in American history and how it affected Sartor as she grew into the person she eventually becomes.
This is an enchanting coming-of-age nonfiction narrative and fascinating look back at a decade of change in both Sartor’s life and in American society.
Sartor started writing in earnest whenever she was grounded by her parents as a young teenager. As she puts it: “I wrote, to no one in particular, about what I thought, saw, dreamed of, overheard, worried over, and obsessed upon: God, sex, and the whole messy endeavor of trying to hold my own and create my own identity.” Her thoughts about these big issues are interspersed with brief weather reports, the titles of the books she’s reading, musings about the day’s dealings with boys, observations about her family, what’s happening with her body—a typical adolescent diary beautifully written by the woman who survived that particular adolescence.
With the 1970s as a backdrop, Sartor��s experiences are framed by the associated societal upheavals—the sexual revolution, desegregation of schools, increasing use of illegal drugs, and the rise of feminism. MISS AMERICAN PIE provides a look back at this unique time in American history and how it affected Sartor as she grew into the person she eventually becomes.
This is an enchanting coming-of-age nonfiction narrative and fascinating look back at a decade of change in both Sartor’s life and in American society.
March 3, 2021
This was a book that consisted of diary entries from a teenage girl. In the 70s. It was a time I was only around for a tiny bit of, and not exactly of an age to know what was going on, so the idea of reading a book about what it was like to grow up then was intriguing to me. The diary entries start out short and get longer as the book goes on--not really surprising considering that a 12 year old usually doesn't have as much to say in a journal as a 17 year old (not everyone is like me. I tried having a journal at 13, but when it took me 8 pages and several days of furious writing to record my adventures at the regional science fair, I realized that diary keeping was not for me....later I realized poems would allow me to write what I needed when I needed without writing Every Single Detail). It was relatable to think about growing up in a place where most people identified as religious and built their lives around youth groups and such.
May 4, 2021
I read this book because I wanted a comparison to my own life within roughly the same time period. I predate the author by 5-ish years, but experienced most of the same “conditions” of the time. Southern living and all that entails, deep concern over sexuality, the extreme self-centeredness of adolescence, the mores of marriage being the center of a female’s existence, and the wave of evangelical Christianity from Bethel Baptist Church and its charismatic leaders. OMG the church even has the same NAME as the one that affected me in my youth!!
However, I was somewhat surprised that such a stereotypical book even got published - just a diary of a teenager (and with no “reason” unlike Anne Frank). The epilogue upped my opinion of the book’s reason for existence, and researching the author to discover that she is primarily a documentarian made sense of her style. Upon those reflections, I give this book a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.
However, I was somewhat surprised that such a stereotypical book even got published - just a diary of a teenager (and with no “reason” unlike Anne Frank). The epilogue upped my opinion of the book’s reason for existence, and researching the author to discover that she is primarily a documentarian made sense of her style. Upon those reflections, I give this book a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.
December 19, 2018
I was about 8 years behind Margaret Sartor's youth but I identified with the naivety and innocence of what was going on around her. The world events of my youth are deep in the background and I, like Ms. Sartor, was consumed with friends, boys and myself. I often felt the same loneliness that she describes and wondering if there was something wrong with me----aka teenage angst! Yep, it all worked out both in my case and hers. I love that she's stayed friends with and in touch with those who were close to her in childhood. Nice book.
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September 24, 2017December 5th... Mama suggested I read Walden and left her copy on my bed with a note. She wrote that "sometimes the confusion and complexity of our lives gets in the way and we forget what is really basic and important and this book helps put things in perspective."
September 2nd... Now I lay me down to sleep, I hope.
April 18... "SERVICE IS NOT SPELLED SERVE US" (marquee in front of Riverside Baptist)
May 16... Why is it we work so hard to be interesting to one another?
September 2nd... Now I lay me down to sleep, I hope.
April 18... "SERVICE IS NOT SPELLED SERVE US" (marquee in front of Riverside Baptist)
May 16... Why is it we work so hard to be interesting to one another?
May 28, 2023
This was an ok book, it was basically an autobiography based on the writers diary in the mid 70’s —literally. Your basic everyday teenage stuff. I just finished a finished a novel in which a teens diary was a focus point of the story and it was quite riveting, so I felt like I was reading this to “get” to the good stuff and there really wasn’t anything just validation that I had a pretty normal high school experience,
March 30, 2025
A quick read, yet engaging and thought provoking; there is a sense of a lot of the action occurring in between each diary entry without a lot of detailed exposition, and yet you still come away with the whole picture. Margaret was one of my favorite professors at NC State and I could hear her voice in every entry. It reminded me of something she told me once, “Play with the negative spaces and always make something happen around the edges of the frame.”
November 29, 2025
It was cool, I do agree with the reviews that there was nothing major , but not everyone can be a main character. It was nice reading the diaries of a , yes boring, but another human being. The touch on lgbtq issues was heartwarming , her brother coming home drunk was funny, it was wholesome .
Not everyone needs to have a diary so mind boggling you need to turn it into a movie or stare at a fucking wall for days like Christian’s f
Not everyone needs to have a diary so mind boggling you need to turn it into a movie or stare at a fucking wall for days like Christian’s f
March 11, 2022
I thought this was a lovely slice of American life in the South in the 70s. I grew up in the South in the 70s as well, (although I’m about 10 years younger than the author) so somethings were familiar. It was fun to remember them again. It’s a diary, so it reads like one. Don’t be disappointed that a teenage girl is writing about bad hair days.
September 4, 2024
It was great. Like, really great. Margaret Sartor taught both of my parents in college, so we had the book at our house, and I thought I might read it. My friend found herself extremely interested in it, and we still talk about it, even though she never read it. It's smart, funny, and true, which is sort of what I look for in any book.
July 9, 2019
I would’ve given this book less stars, but I enjoyed learning about a town near where I currently live. The diary entries were made about 45 years ago. Church and religion still play a huge role in this area of the country. Some of the locations she visited in this book are still here.
July 26, 2023
Thought this one would be an insightful look into growing up in the seventies. Turned out it was actually a young teenager's diary word-for-word. Young teenagers feel deeply about insignificant things. A quick read, but not very interesting.
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