Reviews and Critical Acclaim for Where Girls Come First
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Quotes About The Book
When I wrote Reviving Ophelia, I had never seen a girls’ school. After its publication, I visited and spoke at dozens of them, including many discussed in this book. DeBare is able to capture their diversity, their problems, their historical and philosophical richness, and their magic. She blends scholarly and analytical writing with her own personal experiences to create a fresh, powerful narrative. I couldn't put this book down.
— Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia and Letters to a Young Therapist
My own education at an all-girls high school helped give me the skills and confidence to be a leader. With vivid anecdotes and piercing insights, Ilana DeBare shows what girls’ schools have meant to countless generations of American women.
— Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator from California
Ilana DeBare wanted her daughter to go to a great school — and in trying to figure out what kind of a place that would be, she journeyed back in time, through the surprising and provocative history of all-girls education. So much for preconceived notions of who girls are and how they learn; DeBare sees the landscape with a fresh and engaging eye.
— Karen Stabiner, author of
All Girls: Single-Sex Education and Why It Matters
Where Girls Come First offers new insights into an important but overlooked segment of women's education — girls’ schools. DeBare dispels stereotypes and uncovers fascinating stories. She offers an absorbing, well-researched history of girls schools, and frames thoughtful questions about the education of girls in contemporary society. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the education of girls and young women.
— Whitney Ransome / Meg Milne Moulton
Executive Directors, National Coalition of Girls’ Schools
Where Girls Come First contains several entertaining and informative sections on Catholic girls’ schools – the vision of founding religious orders, the history, some major challenges and a clear recognition of the lasting contributions of these schools. Ilana DeBare, herself a recent founder of a girls’ school, writes with an uncanny sense of the merit of Catholic schools for young women. DeBare’s book will surely advance the overwhelmingly broad recognition of their value.
— Sister Mary E. Tracy, SNJM
Associate Executive Director, Secondary Schools Department
National Catholic Educational Association