.com Review

Related by blood or by choice, aunties are women who offer jolts of love and companionship, a listening ear, a big heart, splashes of humor and insight, and an entirely different way of viewing the world than that presented by parents. In Aunties, Tamara Traeder, the coauthor of Girlfriends, and Julienne Bennett dish up engaging stories of women who fit the bill and remembrances from their "nieces" young and old. An auntie may provide sanctuary, help celebrate a rite of passage, or point the way to the path less traveled. "You know, when she gets to be 16, she is going to run away from home," the mother of a 5-year-old tells her sister. "Anything I can do now to make sure she runs to your house, I really want to do." Eliza's aunts sewed her into a prom dress that lacked a zipper--possibly to ensure that she didn't wriggle out of it--then returned the next morning to clip their careful stitches and hear her news. Rhett, born in a small Southern American town that "no one ever left," remembers getting tantalizing gifts from an auntie who moved to the epicenter of cool in California just as the 1960s were heating up. Years later, Rhett moved there, too, and now mails her own trail of cookie crumbs to nieces being raised by far more conservative parents. An essentially sweet, lighthearted book, Aunties confers dignity on the meaningful role a caring woman can play in a child's life. --Francesca Coltrera

Review

...a look at the special bond that often develops between child and adult female... -- Publishers Weekly

...recommended for Women's Studies supplemental reading lists, and would make a wonderful gift for including our aunties into our celebrations of family-especially on Mother's Day. -- the Midwest Book Review

A caring aunt may be startled into tears of recognition. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

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