Snowy: A Sequel to THE CHEERLEADER (The Snowy Series, #2)

My only complaint about "Snowy" is that it compresses thirty years into one novel. Ruth Doan McDougall has such a fine eye for detail and nuance that this book could have been four times as long. However, she is reportedly is working on "Henrietta Snow," the final volume of the trilogy that she began with another five-star novel, "The Cheerleader."Ruth, hurry up, now!

I loved "The Cheerleader" and was thrilled when my daughter introduced me to the sequel. The continuation of the character's lives wasn't necessarily what I expected, but it rang true for me. I look forward to following these characters, if Ruth will be good enough to keep writing their story.

Like many others here, I adored THE CHEERLEADER. So when I saw SNOWY sitting on the library shelf, I almost went into shock...grabbed it, raced home, and devoured it in a few hours. And yes, my initial feeling was disappointment, because (1) it wasn't THE CHEERLEADER II, (2) it didn't provide the life-changing experience I was breathlessly expecting, and (3) it's a *very* different book. Then my sense of perspective kicked in. I don't love any book as much as I love THE CHEERLEADER, so why would I expect to love this one as much? And, while I love all of Ruth Doan MacDougall's books, none of them rocked my world like THE CHEERLEADER did, nor did I expect them to. I realized that I was holding SNOWY to an awfully high standard.All that being said, having read it numerous times now, I truly love SNOWY. Sure, it might have been fun if Snowy married Tom, Bev married Roger, and Puddles married Gene, and they all lived next door to one another in Gunthwaite, having coffee klatsches and Tupperware parties (which was my mom's '60's experience, to address a comment from another reader)--but would we have believed it? While THE CHEERLEADER is as much a portrait of the '50s as it is the story of a girl, SNOWY is very much one woman's tale--and I love that woman so much, I would cheerfully hang around if she simply wanted to read her shopping list to me. I too regretted the leaps forward in time, simply because I wanted to share every minute with Snowy--but, through flashbacks and other devices, Ms. MacDougall fleshes out those "missing" years so that we have the complete picture (well, up to a point--I'm hoping for a third book!).I'm surprised--and sometimes shocked--by what happened to the Gunthwaite High graduates, just as I'm surprised and frequently shocked by my own classmates. It isn't what I imagined nor what I would've picked for them, these characters so real and so dear to me. But it's life.It's fascinating to see these familiar characters through the eyes of an adult (meaning Snowy, but also, I guess, me, since I first read THE CHEERLEADER when quite young, to my mother's horror)--particularly Julia. At one point Snowy muses something like, "The word for Julia these days would probably be mentor--which didn't exactly sum things up." I just love this. I took the presence of Julia very much for granted in the first book, just as most teens take their friends' parents for granted--and it's simply astonishing for me to realize now what a powerful presence Julia was in Snowy's life, how much it must have meant to have an adult actually *see* her--something her own parents were unable to do. I found the vignettes involving Julia to be particularly moving.It's not THE CHEERLEADER. Nothing is. But once you get past that, you will find a wonderful book, well worth savoring.

I had read the Cheerleader back in the early 80's and was delighted to learn of the sequel and was just able to get a copy yesterday and had to read it all before I could go to bed last night!! It is a wonderful continuation of the characters and thier lives and their interactions together. While it is true that there is not much mention of the politics of the time, I did not really notice that it was missing. I think like lots of adults with careers, kids and other issues, you aren't as wrapped up in politics and such as you were when you were a kid and Snowy had always been more interested in her social circle than the happenings of the world. I found the characters to be believable and entertaining. I am so happy I found the book and I would love to see a third book in the seriers-- what happens next?? Buy this book, you will not be disappointed!!