Hello! I am really enthralled with this book and feel as though I know the "girls." It is a unique story and hits home for me as I have one very close childhood friendship. We have been best friends since we were 7 years old. Paired up by an elementary school teacher because we were the only Jewish girls in the school, we have been through much together!! There is nothing like this kind of bond!
There is one thing that I came across in the book, however, that continues to bother me. The heart-wrenching story of Karla and Christie ripped out my heart! When Karla speaks about Judaism's outlook on death as described by Jane as final, you basically die and go back to the earth---I was taken aback. This is not Judaism's outlook on death. I am an observant Jew and though not an expert in the field, I know that the reform and conservative movement rarely delve into this matter. It is a shame, for so many people perpetuate this myth for lack of education on the subject. Judaism speaks about "ha'olam haba,"
The world to come. There are many varying commentaries on what this is. But I felt compelled to share this. Also, we believe in a form of reincarnation, believe it or not!! That you simply die is so off the mark!! The soul is a powerful thing and according to Judaism, never dies. Maybe the confusion started with our belief that we focus on the here and now on earth--doing as many mitzvot, good deeds, as we can. But our good deeds can elevate the souls of our ancestors as we often do them (the deeds) in their merit.
Please know that I am not an authority on this deep meaningful subject. I find it fascinating, however. I have read many books where this myth about no after-life has been perpetuated. I hope I shed a little light on the subject.
My heart goes out to Karla. Christie was a beautiful person. Whatever the afterlife truly is--I envision Christie's soul has made it an even better place. She was a gift to all and even to us readers. Thank-you Karla for allowing us a glimpse into your world.

Sincerely,
Amy

As a 40ish "girl", who grew up in a small town (Nevada)8 miles from Ames, I was drawn to this book when I saw it at the library. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Of course it was fun to recognize the landmarks and activities ( I walked beans; I wasn't old enough to de tassle corn), but it was the authentic and caring voices that kept me turning the pages. I'd like to think that there are thousands of areas of the country that produce such genuine and grounded people. I know that I'm grateful for the few years I spent in the little towns of Iowa.

Thank you for the open and honest account of true friendship. As I read, I found myself drifting back to Urbandale High School and the friendships that were nurtured there and continue to grow as we've moved on and out. This book encouraged me to make my "girls" a more important part of my life. We are all in our early 30s and, as the book mentions, involved in careers, marraiges, raising children, etc. We need to stay connected! And these days, we have Facebook to thank for that. A quick post on someone's wall or a comment on someone's photo album is just about all we have time for, but...it's something!

This book not only reminded me of the important friendships that I have and the necessity to keep them, it also educated me on the place I called home for 18 years. Central Iowa, though some may disagree, has a rich history that I wasn't even aware of. I spent one evening, while in the midst of the book, quizzing my husband and parents on the Pope's visit to Urbandale and on the naming of the Iowa State football field. I am so proud to call Iowa home and thank you for this positive, educating read!

A woman in my Tues. night women's church group couldn't have been more enthusiatic about this book, she highly recommended the book, which of course, made me anxious & excited to locate & start reading.. and not a easy feat, since the book has proved to be very popular & wasn't easy to find. In any case, my husband pointed out the book in Target & I got to reading! and reading! and reading! LOL.. "you guessed it"... I couldn't put it down.. I'm an only girl who is the Mom to 2 children, ages 30 & 24, the youngest is my daughter, so I've always preached the importance of "girlfriends", I know personally, they fill that void of a natural born sister. I've been quoted as saying something similiar to what the Ames girls were quoted.. Men come & go but your girlfriends will be there FOREVER.. soo true!
I LOVED THE BOOK and as much as I was anxious to finish it, I also hung on the end for as long as I could, knowing finishing the book would be bittersweet. Thank you Ames girls for all the wonderful stories that brough me joy, laughter, sadness & tears. The stories were all so uplifting. Although I don't see the girls I went to grade school with (K-6), I think of them often w/ happy thoughts. The friends I have from high school that I still keep in touch w/ are small but equally important, and of course, I have my friendships built in adulthood that I treasure & nurture w/ love and loyalty. So many stories in the book were similiar to memories of mine growing up.. (going to my grave w/ some of them)..LOL.. Above all the book re-inforces the importance of friendship, whether its 1, 11 ore more.. I loved all the girls, but my favorites were Sally, Karla & Kelly.. you all inspire me for different reasons. Kelly.... you & Angela will be in my prayers. Thank you Jeffrey Zaslow for a wonderful book. It was just like "being in Ames w/ all the girls"..
I've just passed on my book to a friend, for her visit to Ames!!

Sincerely,
Joyce in CA
Fountain Valley, CA- Los Amigos H.S.- Class of 1977 (married 31 yrs to my h.s. sweetheart)
Formerly of Costa Mesa CA - shout out to the girls from Pomona Elementary.. Sandy S., Cornelia, Lori, Brenda, Sandi R.

Hi,
I enjoyed reading the book as I am also from a very small town in Iowa - West Branch. I was also an Ames girl, however a college girl, because I went to Iowa State in 1972-1975. There I met 3 girls who have become lifelong friends. We got the label "Cute and fun to be with" from some upperclassmen in our dorm at Linden Hall.

Now 34 years later. we still meet 2-3 times a year, usually in Chicago to hang out and have fun. When we get together, it is just like we were back in school. We fall seamlessly back into talking, shopping, sharing, and confiding.

I live in Ohio, one lives in Wisconsin, another in Iowa, and one lives in the Chicago area. Bewteen the 4 of us, there are 12 kids ranging down from 29-19. Three of our spouses were also from Iowa State.

We have had family get togethers when the kids were little, and three marriages of our kids. Sadly, we have had one funeral as one of the Iowa State husbands died of cancer.

This December will mark the first grandmother as the Iowa girl is expecting her first grandchild!

We have had blessed friendships and despite the distances, we have been much more than just Christmas card friends.

Patty - Iowa State - Class of 1975

I just finished the book. It was wonderfully written. I loved how it was written and I felt like I was actually a part of the story. I could feel the pain, the joy, the laughter that was shared. everything.

my friends are wonderful. I am a typically shy person, and don't like sharing my secrets or anything like that to anyone. But I have a few friends that I can talk to and tell just about anything to.

I just graduated from highschool.I know my friends will always be here. Y'alls story totally touched me, and it helps me appreciate my friends even more.

Thanks Ames Girls!!!!!

This is an amazing book. I am 45. I have three girls ages 21, 19 and 12! I too, am from Iowa (Des Moines actually) and thought that reading a true story that took place close to where I grew up would be interesting to say the least. This book reminded me a lot of my own life and how it has changed over the years (what was important than isn't as important now). These girls are all amazing. I love how they made the fund for Shelia to honor her...This book made me cry but at times, made me laugh. When I got to the part towards the end where Angela says, "We should just build the Shit Sisters Retirement Community..my sides hurt from laughing. Awesome book and well worth the read. Thank you to all of the girls for letting us in on part of your lives and thank you Jeffrey for writing this book!

Thought the book was great! I graduated from a very small school in Norhtern Illinois (Thomson) in 1974. There were only 33 in our graduating class, of the 15 girls, 6 of us get together once a year too.
Patti, who lives in Iowa City now, sent us all an email and suggested we get the book.
One major difference in us is we didn't travel that far away, 2 are in Iowa, 1 in the suburbs of Chicago and the rest still very close to Thomson, so for less than a tank of gas we can get together. We also have a fellow classmate who now lives in Arizona, and keeps in contact with most of us via emails. Also our parents were farmers or factory workers, with only 8th grade or high school educations, All of us went on to get at least some college, with 2 now having Masters degrees.
I liked the statement "women do things face to face, men do things side by side, that's why our friendships differ". It is so true, I really think my husband could go thru life with me as his only true friend, not me, I need the friendship of women!!!!

My husband and I have a fifty-year friendship with another COUPLE! We met in Munich, Germany, in December 1959, when both husbands were 1st Lieutenants in the U.S. Army. Our first-born daughters were the same age and played together. The friendship continued as both men continued military careers. Although the children (they went on to have five; we had two) had little in common, their #4 (son) met our #2 (daughter)at the wedding of their #3 in 1987. They began dating immediately and married in 1989. Subsequently, they provided us with two wonderful, mutual, granddaughters. This solidified the friendship! I consider her my "sister" and the husbands are like "brothers." We plan a celebration of our 50 years of friendship this December!

Hi Jeffery,

I just wrote an article for the May 2009 edition of Mississippi magazine. The section "on being southern" Mississippi's 'goula belles". This article is about 9 girls who formed a relationship, a few at birth, some in elementary school, and the rest came to be in middle school. In high school we called ourselves THE FRUITS OF '63. We later changed our names to the GOULA BELLES. (wonder why?) I have been writing notes of our experiences for about 6 years now. And when one of my friends brought your book The Girls from Ames to one of our get-together in Natchitoches, Louisiana, I was so flabbergasted, I about fainted. Now, my book has already been written! Our experiences were much different from the Ames girls, since we are all from the deep south where they eat fried green tomatoes and such. Our lives have taken us to different states, but our hearts BELONG ON THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST. Southern friendships are distinctive, as the 'Goula Belles long established in their hometown of Pascagoula. The Belles savor the passion of Southern friendship and the Mississippi way of life!

Just a tip! If you have not traveled to our last destination, Natchitoches, La, you must go during the holiday season. The oldest town in Louisiana where the Steel Magnolias was filmed, has a wonderful display of Christmas light up and down the Cane River with little white steaming stands along the river selling HOT crawfish and meat pies! Yum!

http://www.natchitoches.net/index.php

I just finished reading the book and could not help but remember my "girlfriends" growing up. There were nine of us in a small neighborhood (yes, the boys were out numbered!). We too grew up in the 70's and 80's with large flowers, bell bottom pants, shag hair cuts (and the feathered look)and had loves of David Cassidy, Jackson 5, Donny Osmond...We had stories of friendship and togetherness (and of course mischief). Our neighborhood was special and times were different back then...these are the friends that lasted. We did attend two different high schools but when we returned home each day to our neighborhood, we were as one. We are also in our forties now and living in different states but still maintain a special bond. We too have been through heartaches and "bumpy" roads but we all know we are all there for each other and that alone is a great source of comfort. some of us email and see each other at different occasions. We have all gathered together each year for a "dinner reunion" and each time it is comforting conversation picking up where we left off...just like we have never been apart. We have not all gathered in awhile and after reading this book it is time to organize another "date"....thanks for the memories and inspiration on "true friendships"...I will be calling girls!

Wow, what a great book. I picked it up while shopping one day and couldn't put it down after I got started reading it. I too have had the pleasure of having friends who I started school with back in 1963, in a small Louisiana town called Kinder (not kind but kender sound) we all graduated in 1975 and have managed to stay friends after all these years. This book made me think of all the fun times my classmates and I have shared through the years. While these women have been smart enough to work through the differences each of them might have our group of 15 have split for now and while we all still talk, we don't have reunion trips every year like before our trip to NYC in 2000. But they are still all very dear to me and I hope that our 35th high school reunion will be a great one. Loved the book and saw many of my friends and myself in the Girls of Ames.
Julee

Just finished this wonderful book and am about to give to my best friend Amy. We were both born and raised in Ames, Iowa until we moved to California together after we graduated Ames High School in 2004. My girlfriends and I growing up were simply known as "the girls" amongst our parents. We are all in our early twenties now and have grown closer and further apart in many different way. Reading this book made me realize how important it is to hold onto those friendships, because they are truly a defining part of becoming a well rounded woman,friend, mother and wife.
I felt myself brought to tears just reminiscing about the locations like cemetary hill, the hospital we were all born at, brookside park, detassling and partying in the cornfields because I now reside in Ca which could not be more different than Iowa. I have never read something that gives me an explanation why I am so proud of where I come from. Being the different generation of the girls from Ames starting high school in the year 2000, it's amazing how identical so many of the situations and the impact of growing up in the "plastic oasis" known as Ames were throughout the sociological, technilogical changes the dynamics were all the same. Leaving home was hard for me, I am now married in California and attending culinary school. My best friend moved with me and we are happier than ever. Many of our friends still live in Ames, or Minnesota and scattered. This book made me realize that little bumps in the road as friends are just that when your looking down a road 40 years long.
Thank you girls from Ames, from another girl from Ames for being so honest and sharing your lives. Friendship is the greatest gift.
I feel as if I am part of an exclusive club. I am from Ames, Iowa and not ohio, idaho or anywhere else thank you very much

I just finished reading "The Girls from Ames," and was deeply touched. I am a 20 year old college sophomore, and have an extraordinary group of friends. Some of us have been bonded since birth, and have all stayed so close through the years. We still continue to have sleepovers and plan events regularly. We have a constant email system similar to the Ames girls but we do it via facebook. We are a unique group of girls because when we were 13 years old a member of our tight knit group died of Neuroblastoma after battling her cancer since age 3. We were all at the hospital that night, wrapped in blankets made by our beautiful friend Tori. We still visit the cemetary when we all get together, and even though she isn't there she is always a part of conversation and our thoughts. I love my friends, and the incredible support they have given me and I know will for the rest of my life.

I loved the book! Thanks you for sharing you story. I laughed and cried!
I have lived in Ames for the last 19 years, but I grew up in Minnesota. I married an Ames boy(class of '86)and he still is very close to his childhood friends.
I was back in Minnesota for my 20th reunion back in 2005. There is something special and unique about the people you grow up with. Whenever I get together with old High School friends it is easy and fun to be around each other.
I am lucky to have one on my friends from childhhood here in town. We don't get to see each other that often because of work, kids, etc. But there is a sense of security in having such a close friend near by.
I live by Jeff Mann,so next time I see him mowing his lawn I think I will stop and ask him when his next kegger in the corn field is. LOL In Iowa we don't have to go to far to find one, actually only a couple of blocks away!