Riv-Ellen Prell
"Dazzling--beautifully written, fascinating to read, and unpredictable. I began this book wondering if there was anything new to learn about the much- studied Lubavitch community of Crown Heights. I closed the book convinced that Levine has not only captured a complexity of young women's lives I would never have imagined, but that what she learned in Crown Heights illumines any understanding of teenage girls in the United States." (Riv-Ellen Prell, author of Fighting to Become Americans: Jews, Gender and the Anxiety of Assimilation)
From the Publisher
Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers presents a comprehensive snapshot of women's experience in Crown Heights . . . Levine's personal response to the Lubavitcher way of life weaves itself into each chapter and is one of the book's most engaging aspects."-Eric Caplan,CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly
"In an age that is at times overly concerned with girls' self-destruction, here is a welcome sign of girls' strength and healthy development. Levine teaches an important and seldom taught lesson: we may find resilience where we least expect it. Her unprecedented insight into this hidden culture is an important addition to the growing body of work on girls."
-Rachel Simmons,author of Odd Girl Out
"Lively tales of girls who long for the lives of male scholars, and rebels who visit strip clubs, smoke pot, and dream of high-powered careers."
-Books to Watch out For,
"Stephanie Levine's book is full of surprises."
-Midstream,
"In an era seemingly plagued with sex, anorexia and depression among our nation's girls, a page from Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers is a refreshing peek into the possibilities for growth, strength and self."
-The Jewish New Weekly of Northern California
Rachel Simmons
"In an age that is at times overly concerned with girls' self-destruction, here is a welcome sign of girls' strength and healthy development. Levine teaches an important and seldom taught lesson: we may find resilience where we least expect it. Her unprecedented insight into this hidden culture is an important addition to the growing body of work on girls." Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out)
Daniel Gordis
"Stephanie Levine offers us a rare glimpse into a world usually hidden from us. Hers is a compassionate but not uncritical take on the world of today's Hasidic girls, and through her investigation of this often misunderstood society, we come to see these people not simply as different, but as complex, nuanced and facing many of the same issues of self-definition that all of us, in whatever world we inhabit, wrestle with throughout our lives. Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymaker sis the product of a keen eye and an engaging pen, and is sure to provide both understanding and insight to all its readers." (Dr. Daniel Gordis, author of If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State)
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
"This sensitive portrait is full of surprises for those who believe patriarchal religion can nurture only passivity or rebellion. Levine's diverse and outspoken girls help us see the complexity of female development in a little-known but surprisingly familiar world." (Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812)