The Girls from Ames

Eleven childhood friends from Ames, Iowa, now in their forties, keep in close touch with emails and reunions where they share news of childbirth, jobs, marriages, divorces, and one death. Through Zaslow's writing and Andrea Gallo's voicing, each one emerges as a distinct persona, be it sexual adventurer, overbearing parent, or modest beauty. Between the life stories there's musing, clearly read, on the nature of female friendships and why they often endure longer than men's. We also hear painful parts--for example, an "intervention" in which someone is temporarily voted out. The sniping voices of high school girls will resonate with most former teenagers. The book has photos, and these we miss, but we can imagine these women and hope they go on as a group for another 40 years. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine