Girls: Ordinary Girls and Their Extraordinary Pursuits

by Jenny McPhee, Martha McPhee, Laura McPhee

"We drove across America to talk with girls--girls from a variety of landscapes and communities and backgrounds....We traveled through the rolling golden hills of the Palouse of eastern Washington, along the shaded banks of the San Antonio River, onto the trading floor of a brokerage firm in the dizzying heights of a Dallas skyscraper. We spoke with a girl who competes in the dying sport of sidesaddle riding; a Hmong girl who became an American citizen. We talked with a blues-rock musician, ballerinas, surfers, an ice skater, a girl who makes and plays with dolls....In this book, we wanted to look at ordinary girls and record both visually and verbally the extraordinary things that girls do and the drives and desires that lead them to do those things."

So begins Girls, a radiant collection of original photographs and life stories by Jenny, Laura, and Martha McPhee, sisters who know a great deal about being girls (they were raised in the sixties and seventies, at the height of the women's movement) and about being around other girls (there were five sisters in the family, not to mention a mom, a stepmom, and four stepsisters), and who are now raising girls of their own. But what is it like to be a girl in America today? What constitutes a normal girl's experiences? How do girls talk about themselves and define themselves?  How do they set themselves apart, and how do they fit in?  These are the questions the McPhees asked on their cross-country odyssey, which spanned more than two years. Girls is the illuminating, thought-provoking, and ultimately triumphant look at the answers they found.
Girls will introduce you to a rich and diverse population--extraordinary girls pursuing their passions and "normal" girls discovering creative ways to define themselves. We meet young poets, novelists, musicians, unicyclists, football players, philanthropists, activists, chess players. Beautifully written by novelists Jenny and Martha McPhee and illustrated with the striking black-and-white images of award-winning photographer Laura McPhee, Girls reveals the astonishing scope of girls' lives today, and indicates the spirit, energy, and determination with which the women of tomorrow will fashion the future.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Jenny McPhee is the author of the novels A Man of No Moon, No Ordinary Matter, and The Center of Things. She is the coauthor with her sisters Martha and Laura of Girls: Ordinary Girls and Their Extraordinary Pursuits. Her translations include Paolo Maurensig's Canone Inverso, and Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II.
Her short stories and articles have appeared in Bookforum; Brooklyn Review; Descant; Glamour; Glimmer Train; Harper’s Bazaar; The New York Times and Zoetrope.
She is on the board of The Bronx Academy of Letters. She is presently living in London where she co-runs The Upper Wimpole Street Literary Salon.

Favorite Quote: “I read poetry to save time.” –Marilyn Monroe

Reviews

[schu · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Second Book.

This particular book is one of my all time favorites. It always inspires me. My copy of this book is been with me for years but you see my Friend,Mikha turned 16 this year so I decided I'm going to give her my copy. I wanted to give something Inspirational. So, I decided this is the right book.

That's it.
-Cole