Three Girls and Their Brother

Author: Theresa Rebeck
Completed: 12/3/09

This book is, obviously, is about three girls and their brother as the girls break into the world of modeling. The girls, after a picture in The New Yorker, become the new “It” girls in the fashion industry in New York. As the girls become sucked into the business more and more, the brother keeps getting pushed out of their lives. Their mother cares only about the girls' success and essentially gives up on mothering.

If this story is even remotely true, it is absolutely appalling. I realize this was a work of fiction, but I believe similar circumstances occur with celebrity parents. I wanted to strangle the mother, and couldn't even imagine a punishment cruel enough for the agent. I listened to this book, and even my 7 year old daughter, and even she was getting mad at how awful the adults were in this book. The brother is very protective of his youngest sister, and the way he gets shut out was crushing to me.

I really liked this book due to the pure emotional response it elicited from me. I find that any book that moves me, whether it is to laugh out loud or cry like a baby, is a good book. I wind up recommending these kinds of books to other people, as I have done with this one.

10 words or less: Families and the fashion industry don't mix.