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llu343's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book as it was on my recommendations list. I enjoyed learning about Louisa May Alcott and it made me want to read "Little Women" again as I felt like I may have missed something the first time I read it. However, I think I read this book a little too old. This book's demographic is girls in middle school. I am a college graduate. I could not relate to anything in this story except maybe some of the relationships with the mothers. I did not think this was a bad book, just something that older girls/women can relate to.
stellarae2000's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book. It is such a childhood throw back and genuinely such a sweet and fun story. I’ve for sure reread this a few times but it always stand the test of time.
themaritimereader14's review against another edition
3.0
A cute read and having just finished Little Women for the first time, this was a nice book to read. I will definitely be encouraging my daughters to read this series someday :)
noahbw's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this book was enjoyable. We read this book in my mother/daughter book group, which we started when we(the daughters) were in second grade. We actually invited Heather (the author) to come to our meeting for that book, and that was really cool.
19paws's review against another edition
2.0
The overall concept of this book really appealed to me, and I approached it with the highest expectations. I loved the Concord setting and the fun facts related to LMA and Little Women. Unfortunately, there were too many issues that kept me from enjoying it. On a minor note, it was hard to follow and I had to frequently flip back to see whose voice I was reading. Not a big deal, but I’m glad I didn’t read it on my Nook.
I didn’t find the book to be at all believable. The girls, especially Emma, felt older than 6th graders, and none of the dialog among the mothers sounded the least bit plausible. The penultimate chapter in NYC, where the characters all fall into once-in-a-lifetime kinds of opportunities was so over-the-top, just completely preposterous. Maybe this would play better with the intended audience--girls in the 9 to 12 year age range--but I’m skeptical.
Mostly, though, two things about this book really bugged me. One was the depiction of Mrs Wong—the vegetarian environmentalist and feminist. Such a ridiculous, shallow, dated stereotype, right down to the hard-as-rock vegan cookies, the carrot crunchies (give me a break) and the request for “tofu dogs.” It read like something from 1992; I actually flipped back to the copyright to see if the book had in fact been written in the 1990s.
I have no problem with poking fun at vegetarians and tree huggers. But I don’t like books written for young girls that play up stereotypes—especially in ways that seem dismissive of what most people would (hopefully) consider to be admirable values. (I would have been just as annoyed had the stereotype focused on conservative Christians, or librarians, or some other group to which I don’t belong.) And it’s bothersome that the only character in the book who is presented as a silly ninny is the one who cares about the environment, social justice, and women’s issues.
But the truly egregious thing about this book was the constant reference to the size of Mrs. Chadwick’s butt, and how all the girls and their moms laughed at it. Really? A book written for young girls--the most fragile people on earth when it comes to issues regarding body image and self-esteem--that laughs at fat people? For that reason alone, I would not recommend this book.
I didn’t find the book to be at all believable. The girls, especially Emma, felt older than 6th graders, and none of the dialog among the mothers sounded the least bit plausible. The penultimate chapter in NYC, where the characters all fall into once-in-a-lifetime kinds of opportunities was so over-the-top, just completely preposterous. Maybe this would play better with the intended audience--girls in the 9 to 12 year age range--but I’m skeptical.
Mostly, though, two things about this book really bugged me. One was the depiction of Mrs Wong—the vegetarian environmentalist and feminist. Such a ridiculous, shallow, dated stereotype, right down to the hard-as-rock vegan cookies, the carrot crunchies (give me a break) and the request for “tofu dogs.” It read like something from 1992; I actually flipped back to the copyright to see if the book had in fact been written in the 1990s.
I have no problem with poking fun at vegetarians and tree huggers. But I don’t like books written for young girls that play up stereotypes—especially in ways that seem dismissive of what most people would (hopefully) consider to be admirable values. (I would have been just as annoyed had the stereotype focused on conservative Christians, or librarians, or some other group to which I don’t belong.) And it’s bothersome that the only character in the book who is presented as a silly ninny is the one who cares about the environment, social justice, and women’s issues.
But the truly egregious thing about this book was the constant reference to the size of Mrs. Chadwick’s butt, and how all the girls and their moms laughed at it. Really? A book written for young girls--the most fragile people on earth when it comes to issues regarding body image and self-esteem--that laughs at fat people? For that reason alone, I would not recommend this book.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
4.0
It's our mother/daughter book club book for December. It's a great book. A lovely story about 4 girls reading the same book for a year. Their moms are also reading the books but the main story is about the girls. It's a good reminder as to what girls have to deal with. The growing up and reazling that not all girls are nice to each other (or play fair!!) and once you add boys into the equation ~ girls only get more mean and confusing!
I look forward to Brianna reading it and shareing stories with each other about it.
I look forward to Brianna reading it and shareing stories with each other about it.
graggirl's review against another edition
1.0
I've started reading books alongside my daughter to encourage her to read. We take turns picking books. I wanted to pre read this book because I had heard it was popular but didn't know enough to feel comfortable recommending it. I was so disappointed. The writing is poor. It passes back and forth through four narrators. But they all have the same narrative voice which is confusing. The characters are very stereotypical. Also, the last section (summer) is sensational and wholly doesn't match the rest of the book. It is far reaching and completely lost me. The other writing point that bothered me was the way the author struggled to interject the historical connections into the story. For the most part they start with the same mother always saying "you know girls the Alcott's did x, y, and z." Subtlety is completely unknown in this book.
What bothered me most and why I won't be suggesting it to my daughter is because of the heroines in the story continually acting out the same mean girl behavior they are the victims of. The author seems hyper sensitive about weight because it is a criticism of the main villain (repeatedly and inappropriately) and even one of the main narrators. These two characters scarcely get referred to without their weight being part of the description. The girl who is pudgy also happens to be the one who has the best mother daughter relationship. Almost as if to say: you can be close to your family or you can be pretty but not both. There is one non-white dyad in the book. Unfortunately they are portrayed as the stereotypical tiger mother, daughter duo. On the whole I found very little of value in this book. I hate when authors feel that poor writing = younger audience. I also hate when they feel that girls need to continue to be marginalized the way they have been in other novels. I hope some author tries a concept like this again with more depth, better writing, and stronger mothers. The mothers in this book are just mean girls grown up who aren't open to accepting their daughters.
What bothered me most and why I won't be suggesting it to my daughter is because of the heroines in the story continually acting out the same mean girl behavior they are the victims of. The author seems hyper sensitive about weight because it is a criticism of the main villain (repeatedly and inappropriately) and even one of the main narrators. These two characters scarcely get referred to without their weight being part of the description. The girl who is pudgy also happens to be the one who has the best mother daughter relationship. Almost as if to say: you can be close to your family or you can be pretty but not both. There is one non-white dyad in the book. Unfortunately they are portrayed as the stereotypical tiger mother, daughter duo. On the whole I found very little of value in this book. I hate when authors feel that poor writing = younger audience. I also hate when they feel that girls need to continue to be marginalized the way they have been in other novels. I hope some author tries a concept like this again with more depth, better writing, and stronger mothers. The mothers in this book are just mean girls grown up who aren't open to accepting their daughters.
cheyannr's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so cute and such a cozy read!! I can't wait to get my hands on the second book!