The Cheerleader

Rating:
Summary: High School Nostalgia
Review: I borrowed this book from my older sister when I was in Junior high. She had gotten it from the senior high school library. After I read it, I couldn't wait to get to Senior High school so I could read it again. There is something about this book that invites the reader to suffer the pangs of adolescence along with Snowy, the main character. You are excited when she is asked out by the boy of her dreams. Now, about 20 years later, I was happy to find this book at Amazon.com. For some reason it has been on my mind again. Highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: The life and times of coming-of-age in the 50's.
Review: I bought this book second-hand in a bookstore during the late 70's. It has been my 'staple' nostalgia reading since then. I'm delighted to be able to get a fresh copy. If you attended high school in the 50's and early to mid-60's (before drugs and computers), this reads like a classmate's diary - or even your own. The New England atmosphere is dead-on, as well as the high school society and academic setup (like students during the 50's in college course required to take only four courses a year; starting in the 60's, it was five subjects in most schools). The author is especially accurate and super-descriptive with the thoughts and actions of teens during that time era. While the general feelings and attitudes of teens expressed in this novel can be applied to teens of today, the world is so different now that this is best read as a how-it-was-then-coming-of-age story. Whenever I tire and get overwhelmed by the ways of the 90's, and wish to remember what it was like in New England (I am a native) during those years, I turn to The Cheerleader and tuck myself into the past, warts and all.

Rating:
Summary: A uniquely wonderful book
Review: I first read The Cheerleader in high school in the 70's and recently re-read both it and the sequel, Snowy, which I was able to find at my local library. (Note: if you loved The Cheerleader, run- don't walk- to find a copy of Snowy because it was the best sequel anyone could have hoped for. It was a wonderful and poignant continuance of the story of the characters we grew to know and love in The Cheerleader.) I think Ruth Doan MacDougall's writing style is heart-warming and absolutely true to real human nature and emotion. I feel like I personally know her characters and see so much of myself at times in Snowy. Her writing just grabbed ahold of me and roped me in- my favorite time of the day would be when I could join Snowy and the gang in Gunthwaite, and then as Snowy grew older in the sequel, I ached for her in times of difficulty and sadness and rejoiced for her in times of success and happiness. I give this author my highest praise and want to say that The Cheerleader and Snowy have touched my heart in a way very few books have ever done.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorites!
Review: I love this book! I first read it when I was in junior high in the 70s and it still rang true! Just because it is set in the 1950s does not mean that today's teenage girl cannot relate to it. It looks into the heart of a teenagae girsl better than any book I have ever read. I only hope that the sequel will be re-released as well, because I have always wondered what happened to Snowy, Bev, and my favorite character, Puddles.

Rating:
Summary: I'm So Glad This Book Has Been Re-Released
Review: I read this book while babysitting in Junior High and I've always remembered it. I used to be able to borrow it from the library when it became out of print. The library has now lost it. I was so thrilled to read on Amazon.Com that it was being re-released. I ordered it immediately and received it right away. I'm over half through when I just received it yesterday! This is a must read. You will always remember the vivid descriptions of Snowy and her friends. Just like you were one of the gang.

Rating:
Summary: Set the "way back machine..."
Review: Oh, my. I purchased this book because I remembered reading (and loving) it in high school, but I was totally unprepared for the flood of memories and emotions it's unleashed!

I was amazed at the number of phrases, expressions and images that came back to me -- all the Puddles-isms I've repeated over the years, the descriptions of clothing and parties that have stuck in my mind. When I read this book the first time, I had no notion of the impression it was making on me. And that, to me, is the mark of an excellent book. To say "The Cheerleader" got under my skin is an understatement.

I'm sure the non-teenage girls (parents, guys) who saw my friends and me reading this book thought it was some frivolous, vacuous piece of adolescent fluff. Little did they know how much it taught us about the weighty issues on the road we were traveling - not to mention what goes on in the back seat of a car. And for that, we all - the guys especially - should be very grateful to Ms. MacDougall.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: One day when I was at the library I was searching for books about cheerleading becuase I was thinking about trying out for a sqaud. This book came up, so I put a hold on it. It isn't exactly what I was expecting, but I am so glad I got it. I love reading novels about different high school eras. I am now a high school student in the zero's, and I just love to see how it was back then. This book is so amazing, when good things happen I want celebrate with them; when bad things happen I want to cry, I feel like I know all the characters. It's an amazing book and I love the sequal too. I couldn't have come up with a better one if I tried. I'm so happy I stumbled upon this book and i hope the rest of you get the pleasure of reading it. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Devastatingly readable
Review: The Cheerleader offers a painful, deeply realistic view of growing up in the 1950s, one that is at once compelling and alarming in its portrayal of teenage life. Snowy and her friend Puddles, eager for high school acceptance and the typical teenage experience, try out for the cheerleading team and make their way through the complicated maze of relationships along with their friend Bev.

What follows is a full description of dating, the most important aspect of high school, from the desire to go out with the "popular" boys to the pressure to go farther to please the boys. MacDougall is at once sympathetic and critical of Snowy's case, portraying her as the typical girl but taking an objective look at her at times. I often felt swept along with Snowy's perspective, but every now and then MacDougall pulled me out of the flow to subtly question the 1950s teen experience and I realized how devastating the "typical" experience really must have been for girls.

Though the book is set in the 1950s, much of its substance is still relevant today. As a girl between teenhood and adulthood, I felt that MacDougall was simultaneously writing a retrospective book and questioning my own upbringing, and I could see many parallels between Snowy's experience and my own high school years. As a purely entertaining book, The Cheerleader delivers a full look at the 1950s, but its true value lies in the depth of its devastating portrayal of the high school female experience.

Rating:
Summary: High School Nostalgia
Review: This book is a MUST HAVE!Whether you were a cheerleader, wanted to be one or HATED THEM, you HAVE to read this. The story has amazing character development, an interesting and unpredictable plot and references to the 50's lifestyle that will bring back memories to the older readers and will keep the younger readers giggling... this book brought me back to being 15 again and I couldn't thank the author more, just having what Snowy (the main character) would call a "milestone" birthday I needed to feel like a silly cheerleader again!
I LOVE THIS BOOK. Buy it, break out your pom poms and rah rah the night away!