Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey Among Hasidic Girls

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.

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.

Levine vividly portrays these girls, their hopes and their struggles, as well as her own feelings towards Orthodoxy and the Lubavitch way of life.

[Levine's] empathy is palpable in each one of the profiles. Levine has a natural, artful style and writes with a lively and keen vision.

A fascinating read for anyone interested in youth culture.

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.

Levine treats all her subjects with respect. At the core, this is a popularly written academic study.

Eminently readable.

Levine steps back and lets the girls speak for themselves; their voices, layered with determination, yearning, confusion and wonder, emerge clearly.

This absorbing ethnography acts as one subculture's corrective to Reviving Ophelia, in that it offers a refreshing portrait of adolescent girls who are far from insecure.

Stephanie Levine's book is full of surprises.

At all times, Levine's genuine respect for the community shines through. The book is eminently readable and undoubtedly fascinating.

Levine takes readers into an unfamiliar world of girls who were raised in the Lubavitcher sect of Hasidim in Crown Heights, Brooklyn...One intriguing paradox she explores is how these girls created distinct personalities while living in a very closed society.

Her findings are fascinating.

Levine's portraits provide a cross-section of the very human faces of these ultra-religious girls.

Levine does a splendid job of presenting how the girls cope, and paints vivid pictures of Shabbat around their family tables.

Stephanie Wellen Levine has written an intriguing and joyous account of the lives of young adult Hasidic women.

A vivid portrayal of the Lubavitcher community.

Stephanie Wellen Levine's suggestions are obviously heartfelt and perhaps sensible....at turns charming and scandalous.