The Girls of Summer : The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World

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Summary: superb soccer
Review: I loved this book. It told about the history of what made the team and womens soccer so good and fun. If you love soccer and history, you will love this book.

Rating:
Summary: A book for anyone and everyone
Review: Jere Longman has a real hit here. You don't have to love soccer to love this book. Not only does Longman tell of the Womens World Cup win, but of the entire existance of the National team. He discusses subjects that other authors would never dream of touching, such as sexual orientation of the players. He goes on in-depth about that subject along with many others. If you just want a simple and to the point review of WWC '99, than this book is definately not for you, but I would still consider reading it. It brings back the goosebumps all over again. -The book also includes a few biographical chapters on both american players:Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm, and Michelle Akers, as well as a bio of China's Sun Wen and Gao Hong. And almost every USA player was interviwed for the book

Rating:
Summary: 1999 Womens Soccer
Review: Players go through alot not just on the field though, fighting for things that they believe in. People don't realize what hard work it takes. In being a women people dont give you as much recognision as they do male ball players. They dont get paid as much even though they work just as hard as male players do. In 1999 the U.S. womens soccer team showed the world that woman can do it.

The Girls of Summer by Jere Longman shows and tells the woman's U.S. soccer teams struggles throughout there period of dominance in the 1999 Womans Wolrd Cup tournament. Jere Longman really told you about how people didn't think the Woman's World Cup would get recognision. The U.S. womans's team proved them wrong with there domination throughout the World Cup and there win againts China to win it all. The author really got into this and almost showed you what it is like to be a player.

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Summary: the 99 World Cup final and history of the U.S. women's team
Review: The Girls of Summer provides an in-depth look not only of the 1999 World Cup final match against China but also gives a good history of the U.S. women's national team. The book looks at brief parts of the game as they occurred and then breaks away from the game to fill in details about how a particular player or the team in general reached this moment in time. Depsite breaking away from the action, it does give complete coverage to the game from their arrival at the Rose Bowl to the celebration in the locker room after the game. It provides a great deal of insight into the early struggles of the national team to their national glory in 1999. Although it is almost entirely about soccer, it does examine the struggle women in general have faced across the globe to be allowed to play sports. The story does not end with the victory against China. It also looks at the struggle the national team faced with the U.S. Soccer Federation after the tournament. The author has done a good job of including interviews and vignettes from many of the main players on the team. If you are looking for a simple recounting of the U.S. victory, this book is not for you. This book also does not provide much detail about the World Cup games leading up to the final. If you are looking for detailed coverage about how the U.S. team developed over the last 12 years, you will enjoy reading The Girls of Summer.

Rating:
Summary: If you're a fan of women's sports this is a must read
Review: This book gives you an inside view of the recent US Women's World Cup Victory. It tells the story of the women who played in front of the largest crowd every in women's sports history. The first chapter alone puts you on the field just minutes before the historical tie breaking shot. Even if you don't like the sport of soccer, this book is worth reading. It tell of victory as a team! Great Book!

Rating:
Summary: Pedestrian Account Of A Great Team and Victory
Review: This is a competent account of the U.S. national women's soccer team and its victory in the 1999 Women's World Cup. Jere Longman structured the book around the final match with China. I suppose the idea was to build tension while flashing back to early matches and describing the players and the team in depth. I found the structure to be a major annoyance, however. A straight chronology and/or a chapter on each player probably would have been more effective. The lack of an index is annoying. The information and quotes are strong, but there are few new insights (Tiffeny Milbrett's comments on the older players being the most prominent). The pictures are a disappointment, centering on Michelle Akers' travails in the final with a few others. And as another review points out, there are plenty of typos. But the team is so inspiring that it carries this book.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read ...
Review: Unlike a few of my fellow reviewers, I found the structure of the book to be interesting and would recommend it to anyone who caught up in the U.S. Women's run to the Women's World Cup Chanpionship.

Briefly, the author used the Women's World Cup Final game as background, while intermittently weaving historical descriptions of the team members and women's sport in general, with a focus on Title IX. I felt there was only one occasion when I found this style to be confusing (Mia Hamm comments with a bad transfer to a different subject). I personally enjoyed the commentary of the affect of Title IX on team members and their generation, especially when the author compared the state of women's sport in the U.S. to other countries.

The only real criticism I can offer is that I found the editing to be poor. There seemed to be a few instances in which sentence structure or word choice was incorrect - not that I'm an expert (my opinion only) :).