JCO draws a terrific portrayal of a girl gang in upper NY State in the 50s. The way they became a gang was not to cause harm, but as a way to protect themselves from the horrible abuses that they faced on their day-to-day lives. How can these girls ultimately become so brutal, cold and heartless? Surprise, surprise: it all starts at home. They also wanted to protect others, their sisters, from abuse and injustice. As one Amazon reviewer pointed out, how many times have you been groped and insulted? Was there anything you could have done about it? Well, the Foxfire girls put their feet down and decided to retaliate. However, their sense of retaliation went too far, and they caused more damage than good at the end. As with anything in life, self-righteousness always takes the better part of you.

Another excellent point that the book covers is group dynamics. Teamwork and its multiple facets, the roles people assume in a group context, the cliques, the power plays, and the dominating/submissive personalities.

There were some erotic overtones in these relationships, especially between Legs and Maddy. Is it sisterly love only? In my opinion, these girls were so hungry for love and their interactions with males had been so catastrophic that by exclusion they were inclined to homosexuality. Although these feelings were never realized, they are so real and so complete that 40 years later Maddy still cries about Legs.

This is one of those texture books, where you can intensely see, smell, taste, and hear what is going on in the page. The scenes about Legs in solitary confinement are particularly vivid.

I like the ending a lot, from the time of Maddy's visit to Rita, to the final comments about the transcripts. JCO is a master at what she does. She was able to concentrate the whole essence of the book in one final sentence, one of the most brilliant endings i have ever read.?

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