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Summary: Coming of age story
Review: Local girls tells the tale of a young girl named Gretal Samuelson who is growing up with a nonexistant father, an ill mother, an over-involved cousin and an irresponsible brother. Hoffman traces her life from the age of about 16 to 25 in which many things happen to Gretal and her friends and family...as is the case for everyone in those years. Although it is enjoyable and easy to read at first, after about page 130, it gets into a sci-fi mode and then it goes straight downhill. The writing from the beginning is no better than average which it makes up for in a solid story line. When the story line goes to pot, however, the writing becomes unbearable and the book becomes difficult to finish. Good for an in-between book to browse but don't expect much!
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Summary: Great Book For Adults and Young Adults!
Review: Alice Hoffman is a truly talented author. In Local Girls, she gives you the life of a girl growing up with her parents divorced, her brother going on a downfall from High School, her best friend pregant,and her mother recently gets depressed and sick. Alice Hoffman shows a young girl growing into a woman as she faces these impossible challeges, looking for help throughout the way. I enjoyed this book very much, but I was displeased with the some of the words the author used in the last chapter. I would reccomded this book to adults, and mature young adults.
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Summary: Life in Long Island
Review: Alice Hoffman truly is a great author. She made me feel as if I was there. Gretel, the smart one is the main character in this story was an inspiration to the way she looks at life. She doesn't take things for granted and she sees everything as an oppurtunity. Gretel's best friend Jill is the beautiful one. Jill and Gretel really need each other to in life, they really look up to each other in different ways. Frances, Gretel's mother is diagnosed with cancer after her and husband had got a divorce. Jason, Gretel's brother ends up ruining his life by getting deep into drugs. Everyone in Long Island is basically looking for love. They all find it in the weirdest ways. This book leaves you hanging and wanting to know more.
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Summary: Warning: These are short stories
Review: I had been meaning to try an Alice Hoffman book for a long time. I'd heard so many great things about her writing, and the premises of her novels sound like my cup of tea. I don't think I made the right choice to sample her work with LOCAL GIRLS. Had I known this was really a book of short stories, I definitely would have passed it by. I'm not a fan of the short story format. I missed the flow of a novel and the richness of detail that is just not there in a short story. It was obvious that these stories were meant to stand on their own. Each new "chapter" re-explained details of earlier chapters as though I hadn't just read them. I found this quite annoying.My poor choice, however, has not dissuaded me from trying another of Hoffman's works. All that I had heard about her writing is true. Her style is warm and her characterization gorgeous. Even though these were short stories, I could still empathize with Gretel and her family. I would have enjoyed a true novel about these people much more, though.
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Summary: Captivating
Review: At one point a few months ago, I vowed never to read Hoffman again (after reading Here on Earth). I saw this book in the library and decided to give her a second chance. Am I ever glad I did. What a unique set up of a book...it is both a collection of short stories and yet a series of connected chapters all at the same time. I loved Hoffman's writing style and insight into this group of people. It shows what a diversified and deep writer she really is. You will enjoy growing with all of characters in this book.
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Summary: Another Hoffman Gem
Review: Like another reviewer, I had somehow missed this book of Alice Hoffman's. What an unexpected treat when I found it! This collection of related stories with alternating narrators was wonderful and forced me to use my imagination to figure out what went on between the stories and think about the details that Hoffman had left out. I would have loved to have read more about this family, but perhaps the author intended to leave us wondering. The strong women in this book overshadow the weak men in every way. Gretel's father, her brother, and Sonny offer no support to the women in the book. Gretel endures and triumphs, mostly on her own....a perfect example of that saying "what does not kill you will make you strong".. Like all of Hoffman's books, this was an emotionally moving story but with a few touches (fewer than usual) of her magical realism. And, as usual, the language is PURE magic!
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Summary: A reminder of my childhood
Review: I enjoyed this book for the fact that it has revenge but in the process of the revenge one of the girls realize that, that isen't the right way to go about it at all. I love how she describes the roses on the house, It makes it seem like she has a complete change of heart and wants to have a change in her life also. Then there is also conflict. The book really made me think a lot of the revenge that i've always wanted to pull but now I know it's not the best thing. I would recomend this book.
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Summary: Local Girls Review!
Review: Although Local Girls started and ended a good book the book is vague about a lot of topics! Throughout the story, strength is demonstrated by overcoming painful situations in life. Alice Hoffman leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader although the plot was good it lacked clarity and details. The author changes narrators often and although it can throw you off it can give you a different perspective to the feelings of the characters in the book!
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Summary: Depressing Read
Review: I love Alice Hoffman and consider her a wonderful writer. I found Local Girls extremely depressing. Because of her skill as a writer, Hoffman creates a very real picture of a teenage girl who loses everyone. Not that I believe all books should have a happy ending, but I found Local Girls more depressing than necessary.
Rating: 
Summary: A collection of short stories..
Review: This book was just that...a novel put together on short stories. While the stories connected and showed the life of Gretel who grows up throughout the book, I just didn't feel that there was enough development of the entire story or the characters. The story is about conquering life..the will to live despite the hard circumstances that exist and I wanted to know more about what motivated the characters, especially Gretel's brother Jason. I realize that with this sort of writing formula you must infer a lot of what goes on but I just needed more depth to the characters. I preferred Here on Earth to this one. I will seek out more novels by this author.
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